Julianstown noise: A serious problem
The deadline for Meath County Council to produce a noise action plan to reduce and eliminate the harmful effects of environmental noise is due on Friday 18 July 2008. The action plan is a legal obligation on the council under 2006 noise legislation which implemented a 2002 EU Directive in the area. The council is obliged to engage in public consultation in advance of producing its plan.
We wrote to the council looking for an update on progress and inquiring about where the information could be publicly accessed. They wrote back to say that they did not know when the action plan would commence and that it was due to be discussed at the full council meeting on Monday July 7th. They didn’t answer the question regarding where the information was to be found.
The council is obliged to make the information publicly available, and Dublin City Council has done so in its website as have various bodies throughout Europe (the England site is particularly good). Meath County Council is special. We wrote straight back to them, copying all councilors on July 7 by email and asked where the information can be found and we have still not got a reply.
Just to put it in perspective we have seen a noise map for Julianstown and the noise is in excess of 75dB L_den (a measure of 24 noise, weighted towards more impact in the evening and night). At a a level of 69dB Dublin Airport Authority is offering to buy out peoples homes before the construction of the new runway at Dublin Airport, because the noise would be unacceptable. The noise in Julianstown is 4 times more intense than this threshold.
In the mean time we issued this press release on July 9.
We also made the Julianstown Noise page to put what we know in the public domain.
We are asking the council to take their responsibilities seriously and to expedite the production of the plan, prioritizing Julianstown for serious action. We will make complaints to the EPA or the European if necessary.
Add comment July 13th, 2008
