Study Findings
The findings of the Merseyside Noise Study were presented at a conference at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool on the 22nd June 2004. More than a hundred delegates from across the UK, mostly noise specialists, attended.
Representatives from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection and the Institute of Acoustics participated in the conference. Members of the Noise Study team presented the background to the study and the main findings of both the public perception survey and the noise monitoring. The conference concluded with a discussion about the implications of the study for the future of environmental noise management.
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A Summary Report of the findings of the Merseyside Noise Study is available as a downloadable document in pdf format:
The full, detailed study report and appendices are also available in pdf format as downloadable documents:
Get Final Report Appendix A (18.6 MB)
Get Final Report Appendix B (2.38 MB)
Get Final Report Appendix C (1.68 MB)
The main findings of the study are summarised below.
Is there a problem with noise on Merseyside?Which sources of noise disturb people the most?
How does all this noise affect people?
Does this mean that Merseyside is very noisy?
What happens next?
Is there a problem with noise on Merseyside?
The results of both the public perception survey and the noise monitoring demonstrate that environmental noise is an important quality of life issue on Merseyside.
When asked what factors have a negative effect on their quality of life and the area in which they live, Merseyside residents placed noise as fourth most important factor. This was behind ‘Litter and graffiti’, ‘Crime and Personal security’, and ‘Traffic Congestion’. As many as 45% of those surveyed said that noise was a problem at least some of the time (6% said it was a problem all the time).
Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which noise spoiled their home lives and 25% of those surveyed said that noise spoils their home lives either totally or quite a lot. If that proportion of people is consistent throughout the whole Merseyside population, as many as 340,500 people across Merseyside may have their home lives either totally spoilt, or spoilt quite a lot, by environmental noise.
The perception of noise being a significant environmental issue is supported by the results of the noise measurements. Measured noise levels were compared with World Health Organisation guidelines for daytime and night time levels of noise likely to cause disturbance. The results of the Merseyside noise monitoring show that 48% of the 90 locations had noise levels that were greater than the WHO daytime guideline and 70% of the locations exceeded the WHO night time guideline. Whilst concern has been expressed about the practicality of achieving the WHO guidelines at all residential properties within the UK in the foreseeable future, the figures do indicate that environmental noise levels across much of Merseyside are at levels where disturbance could be caused. The figures also indicate that noise levels exceeding the night time criteria are more widespread than for daytime.
Back to TopWhich sources of noise disturb people the most?
The study shows that transportation noise is the major constituent of residents’ noise exposure on Merseyside and that road traffic noise is by far the dominant component of the transportation noise experienced by residents.
Road traffic noise is heard by far more residents (79%) than any other noise source, and it also causes bother, annoyance or disturbance to the greatest percentage of residents (44%). The next highest percentage for bother, annoyance or disturbance is caused by other people nearby (heard by 61% of those surveyed and bothering, to some extent, 27% of all those surveyed). Of the other transportation sources of noise, aircraft noise is heard by, and causes bother, annoyance or disturbance to the next highest percentage of residents (14%), with railway noise affecting a much smaller percentage of the population (4%). The other main sources of noise that bother, annoy or disturb people are neighbours, both outside (18%) and inside (15%) their homes, animals (11%), especially dogs, and building and road works (9%).
The perception survey also asked about the reactions of residents to specific types of traffic noise. The road types causing the most bother, annoyance or disturbance were estate roads/country lanes (25% of those surveyed), followed by single carriageway main roads and dual carriageways with motorways having the lowest percentage of residents annoyed. The types of vehicles causing most disturbance were private cars and motorbikes (both 31% of those surveyed), followed (in order) by heavy lorries, scooters, mini cabs, smaller lorries, hackney cabs, delivery vans and buses. Driver behaviour is an important factor in the level of disturbance caused by traffic, with vehicles accelerating and speeding causing most disturbance to residents (40% of those surveyed), followed by car horns, engine revving, brake squeals, car alarms and music from vehicles.
Apart from traffic, the main sources of noise causing bother, annoyance or disturbance (in order) were people’s voices (neighbours and on the street), barking dogs, burglar alarms, parties, neighbour’s TV, radio or music, children’s voices, doors banging and DIY. In terms of aircraft, people were most bothered by commercial aircraft and the police helicopter.
The noise measurement surveys also found that, in general, the sites near main roads and motorways were the noisiest sites, confirming the significance of the contribution of traffic noise to the overall level of environmental noise. Although there was considerable variation in the measured levels between sites, on average, the sites near urban roads were the most noisy, followed by those near motorways and at transport interchanges. These findings are consistent with the perceptions of noise problems with the exception of the motorways, which were measured as noisy sites, but appeared not to bother very many people (only 17% of those who heard noise from motorways were bothered by it). This may suggest that people living near motorways expect to hear noise and become used to it, so are less bothered by it, whereas people living on housing estates or in more rural areas expect lower levels of noise and are therefore more bothered by traffic noise.
Back to TopHow does all this noise affect people?
The results of the study show that the current levels of environmental noise are impacting on the lifestyle and how they use their properties of a significant proportion of residents on Merseyside.
The perception survey asked people how their lives were affected by noise. The effects varied depending on the type of noise, but substantial proportions of people reported interference with their lives. The main activities affected were sleeping, resting, having windows or doors open, concentrating, listening to TV, radio or music, reading or writing and spending time in the garden. Almost a third of people who reported hearing traffic noise said that it interfered with their sleeping. Due to the very high proportion of people who hear traffic noise, this equates to about a quarter of all those surveyed reporting that traffic noise affects their sleeping. If all the effects of all the sources of noise are taken into account, a substantial proportion of people on Merseyside experience specific effects on their lives and activities due to environmental noise.
The impact of noise on residents has also led some of them to carry out different types of action. Complaints have been made, generally to Environmental Health and other local authority departments for transportation noise. Double glazing has been installed by some residents to reduce internal noise levels. Others have resorted to the use of earplugs or sleeping tablets to aid sleep, and use of earplugs in the garden has also been reported. The study also reports one resident having moved house because of aircraft noise. These results demonstrate that in addition to affecting the lifestyle of residents, they may, in some cases, incur significant costs in installing double glazing or moving house because of environmental noise levels.
Back to TopDoes this mean that Merseyside is very noisy?
The Merseyside Noise Study has shown that there is a lot of environmental noise on Merseyside and that some places are noisy and cause disturbance to the people who live there. Comparing these results with national surveys, however, doesn’t indicate that Merseyside is any worse than any other major urban area. Environmental noise is a problem for a lot of people in the UK. Completing the Merseyside Noise Study means that a lot more is now known about noise on Merseyside than anywhere else in the country.
Back to TopWhat happens next?
The findings of the study provide a justification for development of a Merseyside Environmental Noise Strategy, irrespective of the forthcoming obligations under the implementation of the European Directive relating to the Assessment and Management of Environmental Noise.
The European Environmental Noise Directive (END) requirement that a Noise Action Plan shall be drawn up by July 2008 will apply to Merseyside. The action plan has to cover a five year period and should include amongst other items, the results of noise mapping, estimates of the numbers of people exposed to certain noise levels, a record of public consultation, details of current and proposed noise mitigation works and financial information on the implementation of the action plan.
Development of an Environmental Noise Strategy/Noise Action Plan would be pioneering work within the UK and it is likely that the development of a Merseyside Environmental Noise Strategy and Noise Action Plan would need to be staged over 3-4 years. It would require a firm commitment from all partner authorities and a working relationship with Defra. As transportation noise, particularly road traffic noise is the key noise source on Merseyside, the plan would benefit from being developed in conjunction with the Local Transport Plan.
Key elements of the strategy/action plan are expected to be :
- Establishment of a project board
- Development of a Merseyside noise map
- Consultation with local residents and other organisations
- Establishment of trial noise mitigation schemes
- Development of consistent planning guidance and information requirements
- Assessment of feasibility of standardised complaints procedures