Manchester city council has fired a potentially expensive shot across the bows of residential developers in the city centre, calling on them to fully comply with noise insulation conditions.
Mike Anchors, Manchester’s environmental health chief, confirmed his department had received a number of noise complaints from city centre residents. “We found cases where people have neither submitted for nor installed noise insulation. If people ignore planning conditions, it could cost them money”.
The council sent a circular to developers, architects and agents reminding them of the need to provide adequate noise insulation in schemes – a condition of planning permission. Adequate noise insulation, the council points, out includes acoustic glazing.
Many of the noise complaints have resulted from people socialising and from car noise. At present, two bars – Night & Day and Dry Bar – are subject to enforcement orders.
EGi also understands that there have been complaints about noise from other flats within some of the earlier residential conversions.
If developers fail to insulate properties against noise they could face the cost of correcting the problem, plus compensation to home-owners for disruption, said one source.
Urban Splash’s Nick Johnson said current legislation needs to catch up with the boom in mixed-use development. “Moderate thought could produce a solution that wouldn’t put off developers and that residents would find acceptable”.
Anchors stressed the council was happy to discuss problems with residential developers.
The residential conversion bubble is yet to burst. Recently, Crest Nicholson’s luxury city centre apartment division, Nicholson Estates, bought the 11,148 sq m (120,000 sq ft) former Royal & Sun Alliance offices on Parsonage Gardens for over £5m. The scheme will be Manchester’s biggest residential conversion so far.
EGi News 08/10/98
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