MEC supported Clarendon Land & Development in securing outline planning permission for a residential development comprising 31 dwellings, located to the southwest of the civil parish of Glen Parva, Leicestershire. The scheme includes the construction of a new vehicular access to Little Glen Road, areas of public open space, and the integration of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS).
The site is bound to the north by Little Glen Road, to the east by Marchy’s Motors, and to the south and west by open greenfield land. The Birmingham to Peterborough railway line lies approximately 100 metres from the western site boundary, contributing to the complex environmental context considered during the planning process.
MEC took a multi-disciplinary approach, bringing together expertise from our Acoustics, Utilities, and Geomatics teams to address the site’s environmental sensitivities and infrastructure requirements at the early planning stage.
With the site flanked by Little Glen Road, Marchy’s Motors, and the Birmingham to Peterborough railway line, noise from road traffic, commercial activity, and rail movement presented a significant challenge. Our acoustics team carried out an acoustic assessment, breaking it down into three distinct components. Careful analysis of night-time maximum sound levels required careful consideration to help distinguish between road and rail sources, ensuring our model reflected real-world conditions. These insights directly informed the site layout, glazing specification, and ventilation strategy.
Meanwhile, our utilities team undertook a comprehensive utilities assessment to determine how the development could be connected to key utility supplies. This included evaluating potential requirements for diversion or protection of existing infrastructure and providing indicative costs for service connections. Two significant constraints were identified within the site: a medium-pressure gas main and a foul sewer, each in different locations, which required early integration into the site masterplan.
Supporting this, our Geomatics team conducted an underground gas pipe detection survey to verify the precise position of the gas main and capture detailed utility constraints. This data fed directly into the utilities constraints plan, identifying existing assets and suggesting suitable connection points, ensuring accurate, regulation-compliant design decisions were made from the outset.
Noise impact was a key challenge due to the site’s proximity to three distinct sources. Through in-depth analysis of long-term audio recordings, we were able to determine which source gave rise to maximum sound level events and model a representative acoustic scenario. Despite the complexity, we demonstrated that, with the right layout, glazing, and ventilation strategy, both internal and external acoustic criteria could be successfully met, ensuring acoustic compliance with both national and local planning policy.
From a utilities perspective, the project presented a critical challenge when the gas main was found to be in a different location to that indicated by asset plans, creating a constraint with one of the proposed dwellings. A diversion was deemed cost-prohibitive due to the gas main connecting within the adjacent road. Our team advised a minor repositioning of the affected dwelling to remain within the easement.
Planning was approved for the development in late 2024, and Clarendon Land has since exchanged contracts with Morro Partnerships, another valued client, who will be delivering the build in due course.
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