ASA Appoints Networking Czars

Congratulations to Dan Saunders and Neil McLeod who have been appointed Planning and Architectural Czars respectively.

Dan and Neil will be keeping their fingers on the pulses, and getting inside the heads of their allocated professional contact to help us better understand and interact with other members of our clients’ teams.

European Acoustic Consultants Network

As part of the ANC’s continuing mission to engage more closely with colleagues internationally, a discussion forum has been set up to facilitate discussion with colleagues around Europe on topics of common interest, such as implementation of EU directives and international consultancy contracts.

For more information contact Ed Clarke.

Acoustics in Schools: April 2010 Update

A joint letter from DCSF and CLG issued on 07/04/2010 confirms that the Government has taken the necessary steps to ensure BSF funding is linked to a contractual commitment to acoustic test certification.  The promised ‘Design Practise Note for Clients’ is also expected later in 2010.

Week 10

Welcome Becky

Rebecca Stafford has joined the ASA family, supporting our consulting team and keeping us all in order admin-wise.  Hers is likely to be the first voice you hear if you call the Winchester Office, so please be nice to her.

Tight deadlines are the NORM
ASA has been appointed to provide yet another noise impact assessment at very short notice! The NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials) decontamination facility proposed  at Winfrith in Dorset is being fast-tracked for a planning submission by the end of March.

Week 8

dB or not dB ? THAT is the question !

Durkan Ltd’s refurbishment of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Education Centre is proceeding apace, with ASA’s advice to the design team shaping the way future generations will be taught in the ways of the Bard.

Week 6

New Deputy in Town: Congratulations to Neil McLeod on his appointment as a Robust Details Deputy Inspector.  Neil joins ASA’s existing team of three inspectors and two deputies, completing our RD posse.

Tilting at Windmills: Following the Crown Estate’s announcement last month releasing further sites for offshore wind farms, with potential capacity for a potential 6,400 wind turbines, ASA is gearing up for further environmental impact assessment work.  ASA has provided noise impact assessments, both airborne and underwater noise, for a number of the current UK sites, and is in discussions with developers over the next phases.

October 2009 Government has Balls on acoustics

The link between good acoustics and classroom communication is well established, but recent schools projects have been criticised for not taking this requirement seriously (especially in facilities designed specifically for the hearing impaired).

On 16/10/09 , after intense lobbying at the Labour Party conference by the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) , Ed Balls’ DCSF announced a new package of measures to ensure that the designers and constructors of school buildings take acoustics seriously. New BSF schools will be tested, and funding for new school programmes is to be withheld, pending local authorities proving that the schools they have recently built comply with the Building Regulations requirements as laid out in BB93.

August 2009 Ince Marsh Success

Over a year since the conclusion of the public inquiry,  consent has been granted for the construction of a Resource Recovery Park (RRP) and Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) Power Plant which will be able to take advantage of a ‘trimodal transportation hub’ to accommodate a variety of waste management business.

ASA produced a great deal of noise evidence at the inquiry, presented in a readily intelligible form using noise mapping – see an example here

For more information on the scheme go to http://www.incerrp.co.uk/recoverypark.html

May 2009 Promotion for James

Congratulations to James Healey. He has been promoted to the role of SENIOR CONSULTANT after developing his experience and skills over the last few years.

New regional offices open

ASA has spread its wings and opened two local offices to provide a better service to clients across the country. We now have a west-country office based in Exeter and a midlands office based in Telford enabling us to provide our quality service at competitive prices over a much larger area.

 April 2009 Neil completes Devizes to Westminster

Congratulations to ASA’s Neil McLeod for completing the gruelling 125 mile Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race. After a total of 18hrs 11mins of racing over four days he achieved 11th place in the senior k1 category. For more information go to http://www.dwrace.org.uk/.