Residential Developments

When developing new residential properties and estates, odour can be an important consideration and can sometimes lead to plots being unfeasible. Due diligence and early engagement with us could save you time and costs, helping you to design cleverly to negate potential issues.

Often key odour issues arise due to the location of new dwellings being situated too close to existing sources of odour. In urban areas, this usually includes restaurants, breweries and fast food takeaways, but can include industrial parks, landfill sites, etc. In rural areas, the key concerns normally relate to agricultural sources, such as poultry farms, cow sheds, slurry storage, etc., and can also include wastewater works, industrial parks, and airports.

Careful consideration should also be given to potential wastewater treatment works and pumping stations within proposed developments, as well as commercial kitchens.

Our team have been involved in thousands of developments across the UK, many of which have involved odour considerations. These have included assessments and management of odour sources.

ODC works with architects to design masterplans carefully to avoid odour issues and achieve planning permission. Where needed this can include development of odour control zones, where dwellings should be excluded and replaced with other design aspects such as landscaping to optimise net biodiversity gain, swells, play areas and pumping stations. However, there are many supplementary measures that help to minimise odour effects, such as orientating homes to avoid onlooking odour sources, careful location of gardens, pavements and roads to maximise the use of the site, vegetation barriers to reduce odour dispersion, and consideration of terrain and meteorology.

“I think the document is well written and contains the right amount of information for the purposes of supporting the Appeal Hearing Statement.”