back to listings SME Profile: ACCON UK Ltd

ACCON UK Ltd

Unit B, Fronds Park, Frouds Lane, Aldermaston, Reading RG7 4LH

Citibase Brighton: 95 Ditchling Rd, Brighton BN1 4ST

Tel: + 44 (0)118 971 0000 Email: enquiry@accon-uk.com Web: http://www.accon-uk.com

Welcome to ACCON UK  - Your partner in environmental assessment

As one of the UK’s leading environmental consultancies, specialising in air quality, noise, vibration, lighting, flood risk, contaminated land and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). With EIAs and technical reports being required for many planning proposals, ensuring you get the most accurate, reliable and robust results is essential. ACCON UK is one of the most trusted and cost effective air quality, noise and EIA consultancies operating today. 

With many years of experience and unrivalled cross sector expertise, ACCON UK deliver comprehensive reporting and effective solutions to property developers, planners, engineers and construction companies, as well as Local Authorities and Government Agencies. Whatever you are developing, whether it is a wind farm or a major infrastructure system and need environmental consultants with experts in a wide range of disciplines, contact ACCON UK and you will have access to one of the UK’s top teams of environmental consultants.

We offer focussed solutions for our clients provided by our team of experts. Our team includes senior consultants with specialist capability in contaminated land, air quality, lighting, noise, vibration, sound insulation testing, daylight and sunlight, ecology, flood risk and environmental consultancy, covering every aspect of EIA preparation. All of the specialist environmental consultants at ACCON UK are up-to-date with the latest revisions to the planning system. Our consultants routinely liaise with local authorities in order to understand their information requirements. Using the latest monitoring equipment and modelling software we work efficiently and produce accurate, easy to understand reports, clearly detailing any impacts and required mitigation, in order to gain planning permission or discharge conditions in the most cost effective way possible.

Our range of sector expertise includes:

  • Transportation – Road and Rail
  • Aviation
  • Residential and Commercial Development
  • Sports Stadia and Recreational Facilities
  • Industrial
  • Mining and Quarrying
  • Energy and Wind Farm Developments
  • Petro-chemical

SERVICES AT A GLANCE

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KEY PERSONNEL 

SERVICES

Noise & Vibration 

As specialist Noise & Vibration Consultants, ACCON UK are able to offer a wide range of vibration and acoustic consultancy services, including noise surveys, assessments, monitoring and design. Our in-house personnel have a wide range of experience across all areas of acoustics and some of our team have over 40 years experience, including international work. We have been involved in a wide range of projects working closely with architects, planners and engineers in order to provide a comprehensive approach to projects, recognising the competing requirements of other disciplines.

Services include:

  • Noise Impact Assessments
  • Vibration Assessments
  • Construction and Demolition Noise Monitoring and Control
  • Noise Nuisance / Legal Issues
  • Planning and Noise Assessments for Residential Developments
  • Industrial and Commercial Development Schemes
  • Noise from Leisure Activities
  • Wind Farms
  • Architectural Acoustics
  • Noise Mapping of Cities and Conurbations
  • Occupational Noise and Vibration Assessments
  • Road schemes for new and Improved Highways
  • Railway schemes, including Light Rail Transit, Guided Bus etc
  • Airport and Aircraft Impact Assessment
  • Advice on Sound Insulation and Acoustic Design
  • Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Noise Assessments
  • Expert witnesses at Planning Inquiries and Legal Cases
  • ANC Registered Sound Testing

Air Quality and Odour 

Air Quality and Odour are two of ACCON UK’s major specialist disciplines. ACCON UK is able to provide specialist services in air quality and odour assessment having worked on projects throughout the UK and Europe. The ACCON UK air quality team consists of highly skilled and dedicated environmental professionals with in-depth experience of air quality issues and their impacts. We have extensive experience in conducting assessments for planning applications, statutory nuisance and Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permit applications. We fully understand the requirements of our clients, based on over 25 years of consultancy experience and a decade of experience in the public sector. We provide our clients with practical and robust advice in order to secure the necessary consents and permits. Our experience at Public Inquiry means that we know what level of detail is required to satisfy planning authorities where air quality issues are concerned and we are also most importantly able to explain the issues to the wider public.

Our consultants have worked on projects for planning and engineering consultancies, house builders, industry, Local Authorities and the Highways Agency. Our project experience includes the wastewater treatment industry, highways, power stations, waste management facilities, incinerators, quarries, ports, railways etc. We provide a comprehensive range of air quality management, monitoring and assessment services to assess and improve ambient air quality and provide expert advice including dispersion modelling for development and strategic policy studies. For more details please see our Air Quality Assessment and Air Quality Monitoring & Modelling page.

Building Acoustics 

ACCON UK provide consultancy advice, measurements and testing services covering all aspects of building acoustics. Our services include:

  • Architectural acoustic design for residential and commercial buildings
  • Acoustic design for schools and educational buildings
  • Acoustic design for hospitals and care homes.
  • Sound insulation testing for Approved Document E compliance. We are a registered ANC testing body
  • Acoustic design and measurements for halls, theatres, council chambers etc
  • Noise assessment and design for HVAC systems.

Complete Acoustic Service

ACCON can provide a complete acoustic design service for the entire project drawing on our considerable experience in building and architectural acoustic design projects. We provide the same accurate, efficient and professional service for the smallest conversion projects through to large scale development schemes. ACCON’s consultants are skilled in the acoustic specification of glazing requirements as well as the calculation of sound insulation performance of internal partitions and the external facade. We are also experienced in the assessment and control of noise and vibration from mechanical ventilation systems. ACCON provide comprehensive acoustic commissioning and sound insulation testing services to prove compliance with design specifications, national standards or Building Regulations.

Daylight & Lighting Services 

ACCON UK is able to provide an in-depth capability in issues related to daylight, sunlight, overshadowing and lighting nuisance. Our capability extends to ‘Rights to Light’ investigations and planning issues involving daylight, as well as dealing with nuisance from decorative or security lighting. Our personnel have provided services for both developers and residents affected by new developments.

We are able to assist on a wide range of issues including:

  • Daylight and Sunlight Assessments
  • Three Dimensional Overshadowing Modelling
  • Code for Sustainable Homes Daylight Assessments
  • Microclimatic Impacts of Overshadowing
  • Window Design
  • Assessments/Measurements of Lighting Installations
  • Light Pollution & Strategy Reports
  • Ecological Impacts of Lighting
  • Design of Sports Lighting
  • Expert Witness Services

Flood Risk Assessment

ACCON UK is able to provide detailed Flood Risk Assessments for residential or commercial developments of any scale, nationwide. The susceptibility of land to flooding is an increasingly important consideration in determining planning applications; the potential consequences for occupiers, either of the development or elsewhere, in terms of safety and financial risk can be serious. Flood Risk Assessments (FRAs) vary from simple exercises for small or less vulnerable developments to detailed studies for more vulnerable or larger developments sometimes requiring quantitative approaches i.e. hydraulic modelling to determine the risk posed to the development. ACCON offer various levels of detail suited to your requirements including:

  • Scoping Reports;
  • Full Flood Risk Assessments (FRAs);
  • Strategies for Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS);
  • Review of Flood Risk Assessments;
  • Strategic Flood Risk Assessments; and
  • Advice on planning applications in terms of flood risk.

ACCON are able to provide a variety of detailed reporting for flood risk assessments which depending on the precise requirements of our clients may include:

  • Pluvial and fluvial flood data.
  • Predicted flood depth data.
  • Susceptibility of groundwater identifying where geological conditions could enable groundwater flooding to occur and where groundwater may be in close proximity to the ground surface.
  • BGS geological indicators of flooding.
  • Flood return periods.
  • ‘Defended’ and ‘Undefended’ flood risk data
  • Detailed River Network features
  • Surface water run-off flood hazard, covering minor rivers, water flowing across the ground or raised groundwater levels etc.


Ecology 

ACCON UK is able to provide specialist capabilities in ecological assessment. Within this field, our experts cover a broad range of habitats and species including terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. We are able to provide a full range of ecological survey, assessment and advisory services tailored to the clients’ precise requirements. These include initial scoping studies, habitat surveys, protected species surveys, mitigation schemes, post-project monitoring, ecological impact assessment, inputs to EIAs and expert witness testimony. We are able to carry out protected species surveys for a wide variety of species including:

  • Birds
  • Bats
  • Badgers
  • Great-Crested Newts
  • Reptiles
  • Otters
  • Dormice
  • Invertebrates
  • Water Shrews and Voles

Our range of habitat surveys include:

  • Phase I Habitat Surveys under JNCC Guidelines,
  • River Corridor Surveys,
  • Invasive Plant Surveys, e.g. Japanese Knotweed, and
  • Phase 2 National Vegetation Classification (NVC) Surveys

Contaminated Land 

ACCON UK offers a comprehensive service in the field of contaminated land assessment, undertaking Phase 1, 2 and 3 investigations.

Phase 1 Desk Study: The Phase 1 desk study identifies any potential sources of contamination resulting from the current and historical activities at the site by reviewing available information from sources such as archives, plans and records, databases and information from regulatory authorities. In this way we can discover the past and current activities at a site and assess them for potentially contaminative processes, in order to determine the potential for the presence of contamination. The Phase 1 study also identifies any potentially sensitive receptors, e.g. humans, surface watercourses, aquifers, buildings or ecological receptors and also collates the information relating to the site’s environmental setting i.e. geology, hydrogeology, industrial activity, location of controlled waters, pollution incidents and proximity to open/closed landfill sites. This information is then used to undertake a qualitative Risk Assessment through the development of a conceptual model for the site. The conceptual model identifies any Significant Pollutant Linkages which may be present. If Significant Pollutant Linkages are present then a Phase 2 site investigation may be required to quantify the risk and also to assess the potential for environmental liability associated with the site.

Phase 2 Site Investigation: An intrusive site investigation is undertaken to investigate each aspect highlighted by the Phase 1 desk study. The Phase 2 investigation is designed and implemented using a variety of in-situ exploratory methods, size of site and type of contaminants identified by the desk study as potentially present.

Phase 3 Remediation: If remediation is required following the Phase 2 works, then a site specific remediation methodology can be produced; this involves consultation with the regulatory authorities to ensure satisfactory design and implementation of the remediation programme.

EIA 

ACCON UK is able to undertake Sustainability Appraisals for proposed developments of any size. In terms of land use planning, a Sustainability Appraisal is similar to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) but also includes economic and social inputs, and provides a critical evaluation of the performance of a proposed project against predetermined social, economic and environmental criteria so that the project’s performance can be improved. Sustainability Appraisals are mandatory under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. At present there is no specific formal procedure when undertaking a Sustainability Appraisal, however it usually involves the following aspects:

  • Reviewing current best practice with regard to the subject of the plan;
  • Scoping national, regional and local policy guidance;
  • Reviewing the plan’s assumptions, objectives and forecasts;
  • Identifying criteria for appraising the plan’s sustainability performance;
  • Modifying plans/policies in the light of the appraisal; and
  • Identifying sustainable development indicators so the plan’s long term delivery of sustainability can be monitored.

Sustainability Appraisal has the advantage of being quicker than SEA, producing a slightly less rigorous, although still valuable, broad analysis, usually in the form of a checklist with accompanying explanation. This allows fairly rapid assessment to be made about the sustainability impact of a planned development, individual policies and also indicates where policy adjustments may need to be made. Our sustainability credentials run through much of the work we provide in other specialist technical disciplines and in this respect we are able to provide advice on the following:

  • Renewable Energy;
  • Code for Sustainable Homes;
  • Carbon Footprinting and Management; and
  • Water & Waste Management.

CEEQUAL 

Graham Parry has been involved in the Civil Engineering Sustainability Assessment, Rating and Awards Scheme (CEEQUAL) since its very earliest stages. He is now one of a very small number of jointly qualified Assessors and Verifiers for the scheme and has been a member of the Technical Advisory Group. CEEQUAL includes environmental aspects such as water use, energy, landscape, noise, dust, archaeology, waste minimisation and management, and community amenity. Awards are made to projects in which the clients, designers and constructors have gone beyond the legal and environmental minima, to achieve distinctive standards of performance. Recently, Graham has been involved in the following CEEQUAL projects:

  • Lee Valley White Water Canoeing Centre (Olympics)
  • A419 Blundon Bypass
  • Hammersmith Depot Remodelling
  • Multi Storey Car Park (Olympics)
  • M25 Term Contract (Pilot)
  • Cross Valley Link Road
  • East London Line
  • Orient Way Carriage Sidings Depot
  • Axbridge Raw Waste Water Treatment Works
  • Olympic Park Wetland Area Bridges
  • A479 Talgarth Relief Road and Bronnlys Bypass
  • Stafford Area Rail Improvements Scheme
  • Custom House Square Belfast
  • Bank Station Capacity Upgrade

 

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