Air Source Heat Pump - Planning permission required!

ispookie666

I can test the dB of my oil and A2A ASHP (defrost cycle is the loudest)

matt_drummer

I received my DNO approval fo the installation yesterday.

Octopus have given me an install date in six weeks time.

So no more gas here after the mddle of June.

matt_drummer

matt_drummer said:

Sent to my MP




Dear Mr Hunt,

I am very concerned about our environment and  the amount of fossils fuels we burn.

I have lived in Ipswich since 2007.

We moved to another house in Ipswich in September 2021.

The house had some solar panels fitted by the previous owner and I have recently added to the system and installed battery storage.

Like many I have been concerned about rising energy costs.

I worked out that I could make our house entirely self sufficient by adding more solar panels, battery storage and an air source heat pump.

I will be saving Ipswich from 20,000 Kwh of energy consumption each year, a good thing I am sure you will agree.

Octopus Energy have quoted me for a heat pump.

I love Octopus Energy, I think they are a great company and a good example of what is possible for our energy market.

I wanted to be part of their journey with heat pumps and them with mine.

Unfortunately, the heat pump they supply means that I fail an MCS noise test by a small margin of half a decibel (they round it up to one decibel).

I have no doubts that the Daikin heat pump they supply is any noisier than any other equivalent heat pump, but the figures are what they are and that is what we have to use.

I have been told that I have to apply for planning permission as the heat pump is not compliant with the permitted development rules as it fails (marginally) the MCS noise test.

No guidance is available from Ipswich Borough Council either verbally or on their website, you are just directed to make an application, a full planning application akin to have a two storey extension.

I have had to pay the planning fee and draw up detailed plans at great cost.

Today, I have been told that the Environmental Protection team will object to my application, their grounds being that I failed the MCS noise test.

My first problem is, why was I encouraged to apply to Ipswich Borough Council for planning permission as I have failed an MCS noise test (by the smallest possible margin) if they are going to object to my application on the same grounds?

Surely they should just say, if you fail the MCS noise test please do not apply for planning permission as it will be rejected.

My neighbours have no objection to the heat pump, in fact they fully support it, and it is not visible from the road, I don't see a problem with it.

My second issue is, if it is government policy to move away from burning fossil fuels and ultimately every house will have a heat pump, why cant I have one now?

The official from the council told me today that they would object to the installation of heat pumps at the majority of houses in Ipswich on the basis of noise.

How does that fit in with government policy?

I would appreciate your comments and any guidance or assistance you can give me

No reply from Tom Hunt MP.

Maybe he is busy dealing with other improvements to the air quality in Ipswich at the moment, he says it is a priority of his on his website.

Mstty

matt_drummer said:

I received my DNO approval fo the installation yesterday.

Octopus have given me an install date in six weeks time.

So no more gas here after the mddle of June.

Nice one 👍

matt_drummer

Reply from my MP today.


Dear Matthew, 

Firstly please accept my apologies for the delayed response. 

I have contacted Richard Collins, Development Management Team Leader at IBC for a response to your email as it is ultimately the council's planning department that is responsible for this.

Once I have received a reply, I will be in touch. In the meantime, if you have any other queries, please do not hesitate to contact me. 
 

Yours sincerely, 
Tom Hunt 
Member of Parliament for Ipswich

matelodave

Bet you haven't made many friends at IBC, but they should be told to use a bit of common sense in the future.

matt_drummer

matelodave said:

Bet you haven't made many friends at IBC, but they should be told to use a bit of common sense in the future.

I'm Suffolk's Jeremy Clarkson!

matt_drummer

Letter from MP to Ipswich Borough Council

Dear *******,

I have been contacted by my constituent ******** *******, who has expressed his written to me below regarding the installation of a heat pumps. However the pump which is supplied by Octopus Energy, fails an MCS noise test by a small margin of half a decibel.

He has been told that he needs to apply for planning permission as the heat pump is not compliant with the permitted development rules as it fails (marginally) the MCS noise test.

The Environmental Protection team will object to his application, on the grounds being that he failed the MCS noise test.

He has some queries as to why he was encouraged to apply to Ipswich Borough Council for planning permission as he had failed an MCS noise test (by the smallest possible margin) if they are going to object to his application on the same grounds?

I would be grateful for a reply to his full email below. 
 

Yours sincerely, 
Tom Hunt 
Member of Parliament for Ipswich

matt_drummer

Reply from Ipswich Borough Council

Dear Mr Hunt MP,

Thank you for your email.

 Permitted development rights apply to air source heat pumps under Schedule 2. Part 14, Class G of the Town and Country (General Permitted Development) (England) Order (2015) (as amended).

 However, in this case, as the chosen ASHP exceeded the relevant (MCS) noise level, a planning application was required.

 The purpose of a planning application is to allow the local authority to assess the impacts of the development, in this case the ASHP. In this instance, the application attracted an objection from the Council’s Environmental protection (EP) team, as a consultee of the application, due to noise impact on neighbouring residential properties. The EP officer offered assistance to Mr ******* by means of how to mitigate the noise impacts of the ASHP in the position chosen, however it is understood that these were not acceptable to Mr *******. He has now chosen to relocate the ASHP to a position where planning permission is not required.

My understanding is that Mr ******* was advised that planning permission was required. We cannot, however, say planning permission will or will not be granted as each application is assessed on its own merits. Applicants do have the opportunity to enter into pre-application discussions with officers, and details of this are on the Council’s website.

 

We are looking into how we can provide further guidance on such developments to future applicants on the Council’s website in the future.

 

I trust this is of assistance.

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

******* ******* MRTPI

matt_drummer

My reply to MP (Tom as we seem to be on first name terms already!)

Dear Tom,

Thank you for your replies.

I will address some of the points raised in the correspondence.

I did call the council for some pre-application advice, none was offered and I was told to submit a full planning application. At no point did they say that they would object to any application failing the MCS noise test. 

It is, without doubt, IBC's position that they will object to any ASHP planning application that fails the MCS noise test. It was the only reason that my planning application failed.

My neighbours had no objections, I spoke to them before applying. In fact they were fully supportive of my plans and thought it was a great idea.

The reality is that neither me or my neighbours had any problems with my plan, I would not have considered it if I was going to cause problems for any of my neighbours.

So, the only person with an objection was a noise officer from IBC who does not live here.

It is true that the Environmental Protection Officer did offer a solution, he was actually very helpful and spent many hours of work on the solution he offered.

The solution offered involved siting the heat pump against my neighbours property's wall, it would have caused them some noise nuisance.

The solution also place the heat pump beyond the manufacturers 10 metre pipe run limit to my hot water tank location in our airing cupboard.

It was not possible to site the heat pump in the location offered.

Finally, the solution also required me to build a 2 meter high wall to screen the heat pump from my neighbours view, this would be truly awful as it is right in front of our kitchen window.

So, I had to come up with an alternative.

The ASHP is now being sited on the front of our house. It is not ideal but will work. It will look horrible and places the heat pump in a vulnerable position, but it is the only option I have.

It is clear that inviting planning applications on the grounds of noise is unnecessary when they are destined to automatically fail on the grounds of noise.

I am surprised that IBC still don't see this as an issue.

Can you see that my application was pointless?

The heat pump failed the noise test by the smallest of margins, basically 1 dB as it needs to be rounded up to a whole number. My result is 43 dB and the limit is 42 dB.

Octopus Energy tell me that other local authorities are approving installations like mine up to 49 dB.

There is no consistency around the country.

I feel that IBC are missing the point on whether planning permission should be sought in cases such as mine.

They are also missing the point that an ASHP will only be making this noise on the coldest of days, days when neighbours are unlikely to be disturbed by a small amount of noise as they will be indoors with their windows closed.

It is important to also understand that there are no strict rules on how the noise from the heat pumps are assessed. The MCS rules are clear but the starting point is the highest noise figure quoted in the manufacturers brochure. But there are no rules on how this noise is obtained. Just because the highest noise quoted for my heat pump is 62 dB doesn't mean that it is actually noisier than a heat pump with maximum noise quoted of 60 dB, it depends under what conditions the noise was measured.

My heat pump is from a leading manufacturer, Daikin, and is being supplied and fitted by a leading energy company. I have not opted for cheap equipment installed by cowboys. There really shouldn't be any issue with my installation in the centre of a town like Ipswich.

IBC also failed to take account of where our houses are, it is not quiet here. We are located at a very busy junction between ******* Road and ***** ***** ****.

Our house is not really that close to our neighbours, it is 12 metres between the heat pump and the window that is an issue.

This is going to be a problem for many homes in Ipswich, the majority I suspect.

Are IBC going to block the installation of environmentally friendly heating solutions in Ipswich forever based solely on noise?

I understand that we all have to be considerate towards our neighbours and I feel I have been.

If me and my neighbours are all happy, why should this be of any concern to IBC, we are not causing harm, just the opposite, we are doing a good thing that will make Ipswich ever so slightly cleaner.

It's a shame that IBC cannot see this.

Regards,

Matthew.