Monthly Archives: July 2013

Projects – Composting Permit Application Bristol

Southwest Environmental Limited were approached by a composter sited to the south of Bristol, UK. The composter was operating a number of sites under Paragraph Exemptions, and as Paragraph Exemptions were being phased out and replaced by environmental permits, SWEL were engaged to under take the permit applications for the various sites.

It soon became apprent howver that 2 of the 3 sites ear marked were going to require significant investment in order to meet the permit requirements namley the impermeable surfaces and sealed driangae.

One of the sites however met most the the requirements and so it was decided to concentrate operations at this site.

An environmental permit application was made and accepted and the site continues to operate. After 3 years the sites has undergone a number of compliance audits from the Environment Agency, with only very minor non-compliances most of which have been related to the condition of the site infrastructure.

SWEL make sure that permits will run for many years without any major alterations. Measures such as specifying a genrous site boundary are imprtant to ensure this.

Environmental Consultants Bristol

Project – Desktop Study Bradford

Southwest Environmental Limited were apprioached by a private land owner who was seeking to devlope a piece of derelict ground which filled a section of street grid in Bradford, Yorkshire, UK.

It soon became apparent that the site had a history that meant it was prone to lowered soil quality. On site uses were unclear, and surrounding land had been used for heavey industrial purposes throughout the 20th centuary.

The site was alo in a Coal mining area and as such a coal mining report was sourced to establish risk to the building structure for ground collapse.

Report Sourced from Coal Authority

Environmental Consultants Bristol

Project – NHS Sustainability Reporting

Southwest Environmental Limited were approached by a planning consultancy who were in need of some help with Sustainability Reporting for a planning application. Bristol City Council wished to see an energy assessment of the propossed healthcare devlopment and somemeasures for reducing energy emissions ergo emmisions.

SWEL prepared a report based on the local planning aithrities requirements, the development was modelled based on energy usage per bed, values derived from a study carried out in Belgium, from this end value a renewable geration capacity was reached to satify Bristol City Councils 20% renewables target.

Environmental Consultants Bristol

Project – NHS Desktop Study & Site Investigation

A small extension of a medical centre in Exeter, Devon, UK.

Despite the small scale of the development a Site Contamination Assessment was requested by Exeter City Council.

During the collation of the Desktop Study Report it became apparent that the building was built on top of a landfill site, that dated from the 1970s.