Tom Hark Preston Park
Will Post For Cash
- Jul 6, 2003
- 71,897
Inquiry Day 11 (Tuesday, morning) – Noise And Air
Two witnesses called this morning; Mr. Andrew Colthurst (Noise) and Mrs. Hannah Dalton (Air).
1. Noise
Fitting that the Inquiry should be discussing Ambient Noise Levels this morning, what with the pneumatic drill / electric generator rattling away outside and the PA system humming away inside. Seeing as how Mr. Colhurst was described as an expert in the field of acoustics, noise and vibration I see no good reason why he should not have been despatched to tell the workmen to shut the f*** up, but instead he restricted himself to reading his evidence and fielding cross examinations. As indeed he should. His stint in the witness box took up about three quarters of the morning session.
Basically Noise Disturbance came down to proximity of the site to local residential areas. As you might expect; of the three plausible sites which have not been comprehensively ruled out for other reasons, a relatively large number of Sheepcote Valley residents in Wilson Avenue could be expected to suffer significant noise disturbance both during site construction, operational use and ‘thirty second noise levels’ i.e. when the Albion score. Similarly a relatively large number of Toad’s Hall Valley residents in King George VI Avenue could be expected to suffer significant noise disturbance both during site construction, operational use and ‘thirty second noise levels’. Mr. Colthurst confirmed that the respective scores in the various categories for Toad’s Hall Valley and Falmer were remarkably similar, but that Falmer clearly came out as the preferred option because taking equivalent measures from the centre circle to the nearest residents, some 230 metres away, Downland Drive has a significantly larger number of residents than Falmer which has only The Old Rectory and St. Lawrences House the same distance from the site.
Mr White (for Lewes District Council) asked Mr. Colthurst if he had done a full Transport Assessment to measure exactly the current noise levels and the projected noise levels. Mr. Colthurst confirmed he had not, but said in as many words that the more residents there are in the immediate vicinity of the site, the more the Noise Disturbance would inevitably be. Which is sort of stating the bleeding obvious, but there you go. Maybe having to concede to on the number of residents front, Mr. Hopkins (for Falmer Parish Council) asked had Mr. Colthurst considered the impact of Noise disturbance on the ‘600’ Sussex Uni Students in Halls of Residence on the Falmer site. Mr. Colthurst said that they hadn’t as they were not in line of sight of the, er, site, and were in fact round the back of the Uni buildings tucked behind a hill. Which came as a bit of a surprise to Mr. Hopkins as he thought they were at the front of the buildings. Gotta admire his recovery tho. Within seconds he was asking what about the recent planning permission given for accomodation for 450 students round the front of the building. News to many of us, including Mr. Clay for the Albion who promptly accused Mr.Hopkins of ‘not for the first time’ being ‘a conduit for evidence’ i.e. producing his own proof which had not been submitted to the Inquiry. Not sure that we-only-just-found-out-about-it will do somehow. The photocopier is glowing red-hot as we speak, and this one will have the meter running for a bit of time yet methinks. Ker-ching!
2. Air
Mrs. Hannah Dalton (Air) took the stand for the final half hour of the morning session. To sum up, I could quite easily do a copy’n’paste job on the entry above for ‘Noise’. Because – big surprise there! – the more residents in the area, the more traffic queues, the more exhaust emissions, the more degradation of the air quality with associated risks to human health. Mr White (for Lewes District Council) asked Mrs. Dalton if she had done a full Transport Assessment. Well he would do, wouldn’t he? Again the answer was no. But under construction, more heavily populated residential areas would suffer more Dust Nuisance, offset to some extent by ‘Dust Nuisance Mitigation Measures’. But in effect the simple equation was more nearby residents = more nuisance. As you might expect. The closing soundbite from Mrs. Dalton was that in terms of Falmer vs. Other Potential Sites with regard to general impact on air quality, all are ‘equal or worse’. No further questions.
And no further questions from me. I’m done with all this. My brain has melted into slush faster than the cover-free Withdean playing surface. I can no longer tell my Sheepcotes from my Toads Halls, my LDC from my FPC. I’m outta here. By sustainable method of transport. Naturally. Falmer for All!
Keep The Faith
Two witnesses called this morning; Mr. Andrew Colthurst (Noise) and Mrs. Hannah Dalton (Air).
1. Noise
Fitting that the Inquiry should be discussing Ambient Noise Levels this morning, what with the pneumatic drill / electric generator rattling away outside and the PA system humming away inside. Seeing as how Mr. Colhurst was described as an expert in the field of acoustics, noise and vibration I see no good reason why he should not have been despatched to tell the workmen to shut the f*** up, but instead he restricted himself to reading his evidence and fielding cross examinations. As indeed he should. His stint in the witness box took up about three quarters of the morning session.
Basically Noise Disturbance came down to proximity of the site to local residential areas. As you might expect; of the three plausible sites which have not been comprehensively ruled out for other reasons, a relatively large number of Sheepcote Valley residents in Wilson Avenue could be expected to suffer significant noise disturbance both during site construction, operational use and ‘thirty second noise levels’ i.e. when the Albion score. Similarly a relatively large number of Toad’s Hall Valley residents in King George VI Avenue could be expected to suffer significant noise disturbance both during site construction, operational use and ‘thirty second noise levels’. Mr. Colthurst confirmed that the respective scores in the various categories for Toad’s Hall Valley and Falmer were remarkably similar, but that Falmer clearly came out as the preferred option because taking equivalent measures from the centre circle to the nearest residents, some 230 metres away, Downland Drive has a significantly larger number of residents than Falmer which has only The Old Rectory and St. Lawrences House the same distance from the site.
Mr White (for Lewes District Council) asked Mr. Colthurst if he had done a full Transport Assessment to measure exactly the current noise levels and the projected noise levels. Mr. Colthurst confirmed he had not, but said in as many words that the more residents there are in the immediate vicinity of the site, the more the Noise Disturbance would inevitably be. Which is sort of stating the bleeding obvious, but there you go. Maybe having to concede to on the number of residents front, Mr. Hopkins (for Falmer Parish Council) asked had Mr. Colthurst considered the impact of Noise disturbance on the ‘600’ Sussex Uni Students in Halls of Residence on the Falmer site. Mr. Colthurst said that they hadn’t as they were not in line of sight of the, er, site, and were in fact round the back of the Uni buildings tucked behind a hill. Which came as a bit of a surprise to Mr. Hopkins as he thought they were at the front of the buildings. Gotta admire his recovery tho. Within seconds he was asking what about the recent planning permission given for accomodation for 450 students round the front of the building. News to many of us, including Mr. Clay for the Albion who promptly accused Mr.Hopkins of ‘not for the first time’ being ‘a conduit for evidence’ i.e. producing his own proof which had not been submitted to the Inquiry. Not sure that we-only-just-found-out-about-it will do somehow. The photocopier is glowing red-hot as we speak, and this one will have the meter running for a bit of time yet methinks. Ker-ching!
2. Air
Mrs. Hannah Dalton (Air) took the stand for the final half hour of the morning session. To sum up, I could quite easily do a copy’n’paste job on the entry above for ‘Noise’. Because – big surprise there! – the more residents in the area, the more traffic queues, the more exhaust emissions, the more degradation of the air quality with associated risks to human health. Mr White (for Lewes District Council) asked Mrs. Dalton if she had done a full Transport Assessment. Well he would do, wouldn’t he? Again the answer was no. But under construction, more heavily populated residential areas would suffer more Dust Nuisance, offset to some extent by ‘Dust Nuisance Mitigation Measures’. But in effect the simple equation was more nearby residents = more nuisance. As you might expect. The closing soundbite from Mrs. Dalton was that in terms of Falmer vs. Other Potential Sites with regard to general impact on air quality, all are ‘equal or worse’. No further questions.
And no further questions from me. I’m done with all this. My brain has melted into slush faster than the cover-free Withdean playing surface. I can no longer tell my Sheepcotes from my Toads Halls, my LDC from my FPC. I’m outta here. By sustainable method of transport. Naturally. Falmer for All!
Keep The Faith
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