Quieter Please !

Dedication

2009-07-30T14:56:00.003+12:00

We will always remember the two men from this community who died while this battle was fought.
Both of whom had the last years of their lives blighted by never-ending and needless noise.
They each lived here for over 40 years ( in houses they built themselves) and were both gentle, considerate, old school and courteous men who would never have forced noise onto neighbours.
To Brian and Bob.

Christchurch Press Editorial ( Courtesy Press Website )

2009-07-16T15:53:00.002+12:00

The decision of the Christchurch City Council to buy noise-plagued houses near Ruapuna Raceway highlights a chronic problem. Noise is a major nuisance in cities worldwide and is not easily reduced, writes The Press in an editorial.

In this Christchurch instance, the solution has been direct and effective: the affected residents will have their homes bought by the council and thereby be freed to move without financial loss to quieter quarters.

In many cities, such generous intervention would be unthinkable. It would be too costly and politically unpopular. Even in Christchurch it is unlikely to be frequently repeated, for much the same reasons.

Public reaction to the purchase has so far been muted but is likely to grow. Christchurch ratepayers are sensitive to the council doling out largesse on such a scale, as the subsidising of Dave Henderson showed.

When citizens reflect on the amount being spent on the Ruapuna buyout, $5.3 million, and the amount paid for the Henderson properties, $17 million, their concern will increase. The track transaction is not trivial by comparison.

Also, it is of the same type as the Henderson deal public funds going to relieve the financial plight of private individuals.

The differences are that this latest subsidy was publicly signalled and not rushed. A working party considered the proposal. Ratepayers had a chance to express their opposition.

Many ratepayers will be sympathetic to the Templeton residents, understanding the degradation home life suffers if subjected to intrusive noise. Close to Ruapuna the noise is unbearably intrusive.

The residents also had a justified grievance in that the city council's easing of restrictions on the use of Ruapuna greatly increased the noise pollution emanating from it.

That easing was aimed at giving motorsport more access to the track, which is fair recognition of the popularity of car racing. But the reduction it would cause to the quality of life of close-by residents should have been recognised. Had it been, their years of suffering would have been lessened and this problematic purchase avoided.

That should teach the city council a lesson in recognising the growing antipathy of people to noise, be it in their homes, in workplaces or as they go about the city. Citizens are far less complacent than they were, recognising excessive noise as a significant pollutant that should be contained.

The council needs to respond more actively to this growing intolerance, with firmer restrictions on noise and a more vigorous response to breaches and to citizens' complaints.

A sign that the city council is taking up this challenge is its intention to seek containment of Ruapuna noise, even though the worst-affected residents will be moving out.

A remaining 19 households are recognised as being affected but have not been offered financial help. Their position needs to be attended to by lessening the intrusion of the racetrack.

The challenge for the council and the Canterbury Car Club is to balance the right of the sport to use Ruapuna against the right of residents to live without the prolonged and loud intrusion of revving engines and squealing tyres.

A result : ( from Stuff Website June 26th 2009 )

2009-07-16T15:46:00.002+12:00

A Christchurch City Council decision to buy seven homes plagued by Ruapuna Raceway noise has been greeted with tears of relief.

A council meeting yesterday approved the $5.3 million buyout of the Templeton homes.

Fay *****, who owns one of the houses, attended the meeting and wept with relief at the decision.

"I am rapt. I cannot believe it," she said.

"We have been robbed of our life. We have been robbed of our health ... It has been a living hell."

****** said she believed councillors voted to buy the properties because it had become a "moral, human issue".

No decision was made on the future use of the properties, which could include reselling them with restrictions on complaints, opening the area for quarrying, using it for raceway facilities or extending the adjacent golf course.

Council chief executive Tony Marryatt admitted the council was unlikely to recover the money, even if the land went for quarrying.

"There is no way we will get all the money back," he said.

Councillors emphasised the buyout drew a line under noise problems at the raceway and did not set a precedent for future purchases over noise issues.

"We have been dealing with this for years. This is the pragmatic way through it. This is the finale. This is the finish," Cr Barry Corbett said.

The seven Hasketts Rd properties are in an area exposed to "unreasonable noise" from the raceway, according to a specialist report commissioned by the council.

A planning change in 1999 allowed the racetrack to operate every day, up from 120 days a year. It also raised noise limits and extended opening hours.

Residents claim the noise problems increased dramatically in about 2004 as activity grew at the raceway.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said the council had a responsibility to resolve the problem.

"It came about because of planning issues for which the city has a real responsibility," he said.

The purchase would not increase rates as it would be funded from an existing strategic land purchase account.

Canterbury Car Club chief executive Lloyd Proctor said he welcomed the proposal in principle, but was awaiting legal advice on the plans.

Councillors also voted to cap noise levels and activity at the raceway at present levels and to use lease negotiations to impose noise limits, shorter hours and noise-free days.

The councillors voted nine to four in favour of buying the properties.

Bob Shearing, Yani Johanson, Mike Wall, Parker, Helen Broughton, Corbett, Chrissie Williams, Ngaire Button and Claudia Reid all voted in favour of the purchase. Sue Wells, Gail Sheriff, David Cox and Norm Withers voted against.

Wells said the Ruapuna noise issue was a "horrible thing to try and solve", but feared the purchase was a "slippery slope" to further buyouts.

Sheriff also opposed the buyout.

"I do not support using ratepayers' money to buy out the properties. I have struggled with it, but I would rather see another way around it," she said.

Campaign group Quieter Please issued a statement praising the decision. "We are very pleased for the owners of the seven most affected properties that after five years of horrendous living circumstances they have a result."

- By CHARLIE GATES, The Press

"They're giving it to us with both barrels now ".

2009-05-18T11:36:00.002+12:00

Following on from the 2009 noise diary ( below ) which was getting a bit repetitive( easier perhaps to enter the days of QUIET we've had, that would take about 10 lines ) .....

While Council continues to take its sweet time with an issue that is causing genuine distress and genuine health problems the Car Clubs and users of Ruapuna continue , unbelievably, to increase their noise and activity.
So, despite knowing that their activity is causing huge problems in the community they are, in the words of locals " giving it to us with both barrels".

One has to wonder just what sort of neighbours these people think they are. The track has gone from being a benign presence in the area to a bullying and aggressive neighbour from hell.

Their refusal to try to mitigate their noise so that neighbours can gain some respite displays an attitude of disdain and arrogance and has earned this track the tag of "dinosaurs".
While tracks worldwide fall into line with safeguards regarding noise and pollution and work with local communities, this track is actually working hard ( in the hope that their "Existing Use Rights ' will be cemented in place ) to INCREASE the problem.

Shame on them.

Shame on the two car owners who on Saturday 16th May 2009 subjected households in a 5 km radius to appalling noise for the afternoon.
We understand that you like to drive fast cars, we don't understand why you can't drive quiet fast cars so that we can ALL enjoy a sunny winter's afternoon.

An Overview

2009-03-10T07:24:00.001+13:00

In 1999 , without consideration for,or consultation with, any of the many hundreds of residents living within earshot of Ruapuna the Christchurch City Council gave the Powerbuilt Ruapuna Raceway permission to operate 365 days a year . At the same time it allowed them to more than double their noise levels.

At a time when other cities and countries are working to lessen noise pollution the Christchurch City Council abrogated their duty of care to ratepayers in this area and exposed them and their families to a regime of daily noise unequalled anywhere in this country and indeed in most countries around the world.

Even though the rules were changed in 1999 it took a while for the impact of this rule change to take effect , the activity and noise from the track increased gradually in the following years until a point was reached around 2003 that residents started to be driven to distraction by constant and appalling noise.

This "Noise Diary " one member of the community has been keeping shows just how much noise is being forced onto local ratepayers.Ruapuna Management and Council likes to try to minimise this problem by stating that they only hold " 20 -30 events a year " there, they neglect to mention the daily use of the track and weekends such as the 27th & 28th January when two small groups of people made enough noise to be heard in a 4 km radius. You can listen to examples of this noise here.
These clips are 30- 40 seconds long , try to imagine this noise being forced into your home all day, every day and sometimes until late at night.

We agree with our Council when they say : Good health is a basic human right for all people. Health is defined by the World Health organisation as a “state of complete physical, social and mental well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003).

Editorial - Christchurch Press

2009-03-08T10:08:00.001+13:00

(Courtesy of Press Website )
Published 24th February 2006

The letters received by this paper and news stories display a rare upsurge of community anger. Templeton residents are at the limits of endurance over car noise from Ruapuna Raceway – every day of the year, until late at night, and loud. The strength of their case is shown by the failure of anyone to challenge it seriously. The council is pretty much not talking and Ruapuna's supporters rely on two unpersuasive points – that the raceway was there before many of the complainants and that it operates within its resource consents. Neither point recognises that people's wellbeing comes before the letter of the law and prior possession. People are entitled to reasonable tranquility – especially when at home – and the track's noise prevents the enjoyment of that right.
The ideal solution would be for motorsport to shift its activities further out, but that would be expensive. Needed is a practical compromise that has the support of all – if a possible deal involving Fulton Hogan's purchase of the Ruapuna site and the profit-taking track owners shifting to secluded pastures does not come through.
A tightening of permitted noise levels and times of operation would ease residents' discomfort and let the racing fraternity keep their facility. It would not wholly satisfy either side, because the sport would be restricted when it is gaining popularity and some noise nuisance would continue. But compromise would improve living conditions for Templetonians and keep Ruapuna operating. It could be quickly brought about and avoid contentious hearings.
Someone needs to facilitate the compromise – a task the area's local body representatives are suited to. Sensibly, they have begun to do this by calling a meeting of interested parties and the city council. As well, the council has begun to get facts on the table as the result of noise monitoring.
This is welcome but unfortunately a voluntary compromise will probably not be brokered. Residents want car noise completely extinguished and Ruapuna's users are keen to expand their activities, rather than limit them. It is hard to see the sides agreeing on a solution. That means more argument, delay, noise and imposed controls – and then continued dissatisfaction.
Eventually motorsport will have to shift its track to a more isolated venue, as has happened before in Christchurch and is common with race tracks world wide. Car noise and housing do not mix. Intrusive, continuous and loud noise is torture.

Noise Record for 2009

2009-02-20T12:18:00.015+13:00

This is a synopsis from a diary kept by a local homeowner who has lived in the area for 22 years.

This increased noise happened well AFTER the Christchurch City Plan changed in 1999. Prior to this, homeowners in this area had no cause to complain about noise from the Ruapuna complex.
We will continue to update this every week

Tuesday 17th March : Noise from 9.45 till 7 pm
Monday16thMarch : Noise from 11 am till late afternoon - Often one vehicle - loud enough to be heard 4 km away
Sunday 15th March : Noise starts at 9.30 am till 4.30 pm
Saturday 14th March : Noise on and off from lunchtime,then Drag racing then Speedway - ended around 10.50 pm
Friday 13th March: Noise on and off all afternoon
Thursday 12th March : Quiet cars on track
Wednesday 11th March : Quiet day - quiet cars and strong southerly wind

This week we will outline just what " Noise all day " means:
Tuesday 10th March : 9.10 am Multiple bikes , 9.45 Bikes, cars & PA system - after that 1-2 very noisy cars on track until 5 pm ( noisy enough to be heard on properties 3.5 km away)
Monday 9th March : 10 am multiple bikes ( 100 + ) on track - later on 1-2 very noisy cars, clearly audible 3.5 km away - continued all day
Sunday 8th March : 10 am V8 Utes meeting quieter morning - severe noise ( cars , PA and remotes ) all afternoon till 5pm
Saturday 7th March : 9.20 start - bikes - followed by V8 meeting - severe - loud enough to be clearly heard in Prebbleton - V8's finished at 5.30 - noise from remotes continued until 6 pm
Friday 6th March: Practise day for V8's etc - severe noise from 9.50 until 5pm
Thursday 5th March: Quiet morning - Noisy afternoon
Wednesday 4th March: Noisy cars all morning - quiet cars afternoon

Tuesday 3rd March : Noise all day
Monday 2nd March : Noisy start - Noisy till 6.15 pm
Sunday 1st March : Noise all day
Saturday Feb 28th : Noise all Day
Friday Feb 27th : Noise starts lunchtime , continues rest of day
Thursday Feb 26th : Noise all day
Wednesday Feb 25th : Noise off and on all day

Tuesday Feb 24th : Noise all day
Monday Feb 23rd : Quiet
Sunday Feb 22nd : Noise all day
Saturday Feb 21st : Noise 11 am till 5pm
Friday Feb 20th : Raining Quiet morning - Noise afternoon
Thursday Feb 19th : Noise all day
Wednesday Feb 18th : Noise all day - ( till 8 pm)

Tuesday Feb 17th : Away Morning – Noise all afternoon
Monday Feb 16th : Noise short period morning – rain – quiet cars rest of day
Sunday Feb 15th: Noise 9 am till 7.10 pm
Saturday Feb 14th : Noise 9.30 am till 10 pm
Friday Feb. 13th : Noise all day from 10 am
Thursday Feb 12th : Rain/ Southerly wind – noise early afternoon – mainly quiet
Wednesday Feb 11th : Quiet Morn. Away. Noise afternoon

Tuesday Feb 10th : Noise all day (9.40 am till 6 pm)
Monday Feb 9th : Quiet Morning – away rest of day
Sunday Feb 8th : ( Waitangi Weekend) Noise from 8.30 am to 6pm
Saturday Feb 7th : ( Waitangi Weekend) Noise from 9.40 am till 7.40 pm
Friday Feb 6th: ( Waitangi Day) Noise from 8 am till 6.20 pm
Thursday Feb 5th : Noise all day ( till 6 pm)
Wednesday Feb 4th : Quiet cars on track morning – noise later in day

Tuesday Feb 3rd : Noise all day ( 9.30 – 5.45)
Monday Feb 2nd : Noise – afternoon
Sunday Feb 1st : Woken 8.30 by PA – Noise all day till 5.15 pm
Saturday Jan 31st: Noise all afternoon – Speedway noise till 10.45 pm
Friday Jan 30th : Noise Morning – left home
Thursday Jan 29th : Noise all day
Wednesday Jan 28th: Noise afternoon

Tuesday 27th Jan: Noise till midday – left home
Monday 26th Jan : Noise all day
Sunday 25th Jan : Noise all day
Saturday 24th Jan : Woken at 7 am by PA – noise all day then Speedway at night
Friday 23rd Jan : Noise all day
Thursday 22nd Jan: Noise all day ( 9.15 – 4.30 pm)
Wednesday 21st Jan : No record - out

Tuesday 20th Jan : Noise all day
Monday 19th Jan : Noise afternoon
Sunday 18th Jan: Noise all day
Saturday 17th Jan: Noise all day – finished 10.30 pm (Speedway)
Friday 16th Jan: Noise all day
Thursday 15th Jan : left home daytime - Speedway ( night )
Wednesday 14th : Noise morning ( left home)

Tuesday 13th Jan : 7 Hours Noise ( till 7 pm)
Monday 12th Jan : Noise Morning
Sunday 11th Jan : 10.30 am till 3 pm noise
Saturday 10th Jan : Noise 8.30 am till 10.45 pm
Friday 9th Jan : Noise 9 am till 5 pm
Thursday 8th Jan : Noise from 10.20 am till 9 pm
Wednesday 7th Jan : Noise from 9.45 till 5 pm
Tuesday 6th Jan : Noise 9.30 am till 5.30 pm

New Scientist article on Noise & health.

2008-01-13T16:39:00.005+13:00

This article in the New Scientist should be required reading for lawmakers in NZ and more especially, for the Christchurch City Council.
Today , 13th January 2008 is the 12th day in a row ( so far) this year that huge amounts of noise have been forced into homes around the Ruapuna Racetrack.

Yesterday the noise started before 9.00 am and apart from about one hour at tea time, it continued until just after 10.30 pm.

The rights of residents in the area around Ruapuna to enjoy ANY quiet time at all on their own properties have been taken away by the Christchurch City Council.

Lets not forget also the track users and management, who despite knowing that all of this is causing their neighbours terrible distress, continue to force their gratuitous noise into the homes and lives of a previously supportive community.
A community of real people with real families , we are not the backdrop on a playstation race car game.

There is no point in posting, over and over again, a litany of Noise , the Noise Diary linked to on the side bar is a good representation of the levels of noise residents are forced to listen to.
The Videos ( also linked to in the sidebar) are true representations of the sound of the noise.
The only thing that has changed is the health and wellbeing of residents which is ( unsurprisingly ) plummeting.

Ruapuna Noise Rules

2007-08-06T16:44:00.000+12:00

Post 1999 Rules Set in place in the 1999 City Plan ( NO consultation at all with local residents )

(/ii) Ruapuna Raceway

Operational noise levels of 90dBA Lmax and 65dBA L10 (1 hour)
to apply between the hours of 0900 and 2200 hours on any day of the calendar year, except that:

.for up to 200 days in any calendar year, the permitted levels
shall be 95dBA Lmax and 80dBA L10 (1 hour), between the hours of
0900 and 2300;
.for up to 15 of those 200 days, these activities shall be
permitted up to 2400 hours;

On up to 5 of those 200 days, no L _max level shall be applied.

Now - look at what the World Health Organisation says about Noise Management .
You might also be interested in these Australian Noise Rules which DO take the rights of residents into consideration. This is a short version of their rules

From The Christchurch Press Nov 21st 2006

2007-07-01T07:22:00.000+12:00

Ruapuna din 'harms mental health'

Loud noises from Ruapuna raceway could be causing mental health problems for nearby residents, a new clinical opinion suggests.

A clinical adviser from the Canterbury District Health Board has sent a letter to Christchurch Mayor Garry Moore, which said noise from the raceway had caused "significant deterioration in mood, depressive symptoms and ... high levels of stress" to those affected by the noise.

Several residents living close to Ruapuna had been referred by general practitioners to specialists after suffering problems related to "constant and excessive noise", the letter said.

The letter described residents forced to wear earmuffs, getting extra insulation, putting on loud music or leaving their houses to avoid the noise.

One family referred to the clinical adviser said the problem had started only two years ago when Ruapuna was given the go-ahead to operate 364 days per year, three times more than the previous limit of 120 days.

The letter's author, who did not wish to be named, urged the council to review decisions and asked that further consideration be given to the "impact of these decisions on the mental health of the residents".

"There is an issue for the physical and mental health of the community that needs to be addressed," the letter said.

Residents close to Ruapuna yesterday told The Press the noise from the raceway was "brutal, intrusive, and unnecessary".

One member of the residents' group Quieter Please, who did not want to be named, said this weekend's New Zealand Motorsport Summer Series would be a nightmare.

"Residents are dreading this weekend. It is not just two days of racing, there is two days of practice and a speedway event on Saturday night.

"Staying inside certainly doesn't stop it," she said.

Christchurch City Councillor Bob Shearing said the raceway operators could not be restricted.

"The operators are meeting all the standards required of them."

Shearing felt the standards were acceptable and said nothing could be done to change the raceway unless someone "goes through the process of changing the standards".

Mike Steere . Christchurch Press . November 21st 2006

"Don't buy near a track then whinge to me"

2007-06-30T13:25:00.000+12:00

A ( longtime) Templeton Resident recently posted the address of this Blog into a local "internet newsgroup" where people discuss issues, both general and political.

The very first reply after his posting - which consisted only of this Blog address - was this :

" You whinging f****** wowser. You bought a house near an established motorsport venue so I have absolutely no sympathy for you"

Later on in the 'exchange of views ' it transpired that this person drives race cars at Ruapuna .
( It also transpired that the Templeton Resident hadn't 'bought a house near a motorsport venue' - he'd built his house , before the motor racing venue was out there )

Here is more from the same motor racing driver :

Unless you lived in your present location prior to the first meeting
held there on April 29th 1962 then you knew full well there was a
racetrack in the area before you purchased your property. If you didn't
do your homework before buying there it's you that's the moron. Even if
you did live there prior to this date, you had an opportunity to object
at the time, and at every time the facility has been extended since.
Historical inaction of your part doesn't give you any right to bleat and
moan now. If it will make you feel better I'll send you some earplugs,
otherwise just shut the f*** up because you haven't got a valid complaint.

His response is a common one ( although not always phrased so crudely) from motor racing fans and it deserves comment on a few levels.

Firstly the use of the word " wowser " , this is a common taunt from people who force their noise onto others. It implies that the complainant has no sense of fun, is just a great big killjoy and is trying to "spoil it for others".
Similar insults/ comments are : " grumpy" , "boring old f**t " " whinging old geezer " " get out and have some fun " etc etc - ad nauseum. People who complain about stereos blaring at 2 in the morning are also often labelled as "wowsers ' or kill joys.
It seems that in the minds of noise fans, if you're not making a noise then its not ' fun '.

Our race car driving friend is right in one respect, many people DID buy homes in this area knowing that Ruapuna was there , although a lot of people living here now have been here since before Ruapuna . Length of residence does not give someone the right to either complain or to make noise , its not a factor when it comes to law.
If this was a consideration then the Templeton Golf Course's "existing use rights" would surely overide the rights of Ruapuna to make noise, because the golf course was here WELL before the racetrack.
The township of Templeton ( previously known as Waterholes) was here for well over a 100 years before Ruapuna was dropped onto our doorstep.

A very big majority of the people who bought homes after Ruapuna was moved to this area did so BEFORE this noise problem started up. As one resident of 17 years often says " we lived here peacefully for 15 years and then two years ago Ruapuna became a problem, a BIG problem ".

Our race car driver is, however, incorrect in saying that people out here had the opportunity to object to the appalling new noise rules.
As many residents out here have commented " If we had known that Ruapuna was applying to change the rules we WOULD have objected - they didn't have the common courtesy to even inform locals through the local newsletter "

Our angry race car driver also seems to think that people living near Ruapuna "deserve" everything they get, what can we say ? ...... its nice to know that our fellow kiwis are so caring

Here are some quotes ( taken from petition forms and from emails ) from people who live in the Templeton Township:

" Noise as early as 9.00 am Sunday mornings - not fair- no peace & quiet dawn to dusk ! "

"No more - enough is enough "

" We do not want to be whiners - we moved into Templeton fully aware and accepting of Ruapuna but every weekend during summer is too much ! "

" ... thank you for organising this, the noise from Ruapuna really has become too much, my children, especially my baby, have trouble sleeping at night due to their excessive noise"

" If noise control think a Sallie Army band is too noisy what would they think of Ruapuna ! "

" I've been forced indoors countless times in a raging mood and often had to move away from Templeton for hrs, for respite. Videos, TV, radio, stereo turned well up have often failed to mask the noise, esp. on w/ends "

Note, these families all live more than 3km from Ruapuna .
Do YOU think they "deserve " this level of noise intrusion into their homes ?
Do you think people should HAVE to wear earplugs, as our friendly race car driver suggests , so that they can enjoy their own homes ?

We don't think anyone deserves this - we think that the Christchurch City Council should have protected residents & ratepayers from this amount of noise rather than exposing them to more.

Here's a more disturbing comment from our racecar driver :
" Incidentally, I now feel very tempted to remove some of the (expensive)
noise minimisation measures on my race car the next time I race at
Ruapuna, and I'm sure that after I publicise your point of view many of
my fellow competitors will feel the same way. Our vehicles would still
meet class requirements for noise, but will be noticeably louder than in
their normal race configuration. It might be time to understand that
you don't want to get into a pissing contest with the competitors -
based purely on numbers we will win every time. "

Yes, we know that based "purely on numbers " - and volume - you WILL win every time.
Your noise will always invade our quiet , we had noticed that too actually .

Spin & Myth

2007-03-26T11:23:00.000+12:00

On the 22nd November 2006 the following quote was printed in a Press article on the health effects of noise on residents living around Ruapuna:

Canterbury Car Club member Paul Williams said the race-track was a useful and lucrative resource ............ Williams felt the availability of the track also helped in getting boy racers off the street.

This is a myth and it seems the only people who believe it ( or want to believe it ) are Ruapuna Management and Christchurch City Council.
The "boyracer' problem in Christchurch has never been as bad as it is now, residents in the City are being driven to distraction by their noise and antics as are residents in this area. , who often have up to 400 - 500 boy racers causing havoc late on weekend nights.

Another exerpt from The Christchurch Press ( October 2006 ) :
"Dr Simon Kingham's research into the driving habits of 200 young car enthusiasts shows that those who attend motorsport events are more likely to emulate their heroes on the streets of Christchurch than those who stay away from the events " ...... "Canterbury road policing manager, Inspector Derek Erasmus, said he was not surprised by the findings. "

"The residents in the Ruapuna area would agree with the research, with the consequential behaviour they witness after the events – local complaints always go up." .....

Here are photographs taken after the last two events held at Ruapuna which attracted large amounts of 'boyracers" :

The first photograph is of one of many accidents which occur during and after these events , a local woman narrowly missed being hit by this car as it passed another car on a corner after speeding out of Ruapuna . On the weekend of this accident Police had up to seven cars patrolling our roads to try to contain the loutish and dangerous behaviour of these "car enthusiasts ". Bottles were thrown from cars onto the roads and one resident had a bottle thrown AT him while he was clearing broken glass from his driveway.

The second photograph shows what happened after last weekend's Drift Racing when a car load of hoons stopped on their way back from Ruapuna and took the trouble to run over this letterbox.
We're not sure why Ruapuna Management think that they are curbing Christchurch's boyracer problem when all the evidence shows quite the opposite. Residents and Police can all testify to the fact that events aimed at boyracers bring nothing but trouble for this area.
Postscript(a) after nearly 4 years of sleepless nights every weekend, accompanied by property damage, arson, tagging, letterboxes being wrecked on a weekly basis and some residents too scared to leave their homes, the City Council has agreed with Police that this can't go on and has made our neighbourhood a night-time "no-go area" for boyracers on weekends and public holidays. A BIG thankyou to local Police for all their hard work and to Council Staff and Councillors for making this happen. Its amazing what a decent sleep can do !
Now Government needs to come to the party and curb this blight of "modified exhausts" so that all ratepayers can have some respite from cars that sound like spitfire airplanes.

Postscript (b) As if we need more evidence that providing events for Boy Racers DOESN'T improve their driving behaviour : Yesterday (29th July 2007 ) Ruapuna hosted an event aimed at Boy Racers, three local residents had cause to call Police asking for help and a Police presence when cars arriving at and leaving the event were observed doing wheelies on local roads, speeds in excess of 140 kmh & chewing up grass verges in front of homes while "fishtailing" along them.
The driver of one of these cars (a gold Mitsubishi Evo with a black bonnet & the number plate THRSHT ) seems to have not realised that local roads are NOT Ruapuna's practise area.

Another"Drift" Day , Yet Another Accident

2007-03-25T12:29:00.000+12:00

Saturday 25th August : Locals have spent all morning on the phone trying to get a Police presence in the area because our roads today are BEDLAM. Two locals phoned Police after seeing cars racing side by side on their way to "drifting" at Ruapuna, one local saw 3 cars racing side by side at one stage . LOUD "modified " cars are speeding up and down local roads, some reaching speeds of 140 - 180 kmh.
Bottles are once again being thrown from cars and one car load of boyracers, so drunk they could barely stand upright, stopped to urinate on a local's garden .. mind you, at least they stopped .

Yesterday, practise day for this event, saw cars leaving Ruapuna and heading up local shingle roads to hoon, at one stage 3 cars were seen weaving and fishtailing at high speed.

A local man out walking could have been killed as the car,pictured above, lost control on a corner, close to where he was walking , slid 400 metres up the road and hit this lampost .( knocking out power to the area ) The boy racers inside this car walked away but not before boasting to Fire Crew that their car did "200 kmh" .
"Send them to Ruapuna" is the cry we often hear , well holding events aimed at Boy Racers really DOESN'T make OUR roads any safer at all and judging by the driving behaviour we're seeing today it won't make anybodys roads safer.

..and Friday, Saturday & Sunday

2007-03-19T10:42:00.001+12:00

Do pictures speak louder than words ?
These videos demonstrate what locals have had to listen to in the past 3 days . The first clip is the sound of two people driving their cars around and around the track at Ruapuna, this continued all day, the second clip is a very small number of cars which continued all of Sunday until rain intervened. Saturday's noise was the same level as these clips. No doubt your computer sound levels may be set differently than others - this noise was NOT a low buzzing noise , it was LOUD and could easily be heard over 3 km away.
To get a sense of how loud this actually is , you should be able to hear this video clearly from any point in your house.

Sunday's Noise:

Comment from a long time local

2007-03-16T08:05:00.000+13:00

For the first time in well over a month locals have had a few quiet days ( cars using the track actually using decent mufflers & wet weather ) , this post was originally about the impact a bit of peace and quiet has on people , but after finishing this post , a comment arrived from a local outlining his feelings on the issue and how the noise has affected his life.
We've left in the video and will let this resident's words speak (click on "Comments" below).
Once again, for those fans of noise - who so avidly read our blog and who seem to enjoy leaving abusive or inane comments (" F*** off then you whingers " - or " how long have you lived there you moaning ****** ),we have told you before, we listen to your noise nearly every day - this is OUR Blog , you blow your noise out through your exhaust pipe every day forcing others to listen to you - you can't force us to listen to you here.
This video depicts what a day free of noise from Ruapuna is like - this is what it USED to be like in this area a lot of the time.Contrast this with video below this post - filmed in same garden with same camera

One Car

2007-03-08T10:02:00.000+13:00

Wonder why locals have recently started to call Ruapuna " The Neighbours from Hell " ?
Up until a couple of years ago NOT ONE neighbour had a problem with this track.
Now they listen to noise virtually very single day.
Noise much like this - which continued for approximately 6 hours on Wednesday 7th March. Amazingly this was recorded approximately 3/4 kilometre away.This noise forced it's way INTO homes 2km away .This noise was clearly heard 3 km away. This noise is being made by ONE person. It is being forced into HUNDREDS of homes.

To Watch Videos

2007-02-27T10:02:00.000+13:00

We have uploaded more videos to youtube . To watch them click on the link at right ( Video evidence of Noise ) or click here . Once you are on our Youtube page you can access all our videos by clicking on " More from this user " and using the scroll bar to scroll down.

2 emails - 2 opinions

2007-02-02T17:15:00.000+13:00

After a small leaflet drop in Templeton we received, amongst others, the two emails below. We have taken out any identifying details but otherwise they are reproduced word for word ( so don't blame us for bad spelling !)

Email #1
To whom it may concern;
You will either hate what I am about to say,or respect sombody elses
opinion.
I have several points to bring up regarding your mail drops in the Templeton
area.
1:you must have known of the existance of Ruapuna before you moved into the
area,therefore surely you took this into account,so why complain about a
facility that was there first.
2:If you failed to consider the noise generated by a motor racing facility
then either a;you just plain made a mistake,or b;you are ignorant beyond
belief
3:The reason you are not getting much response from council is that there is
millions of dollars tied up in the facility and 99% of the population of the
south island are aware that it is there and would not move into the area if
they had sensitive hearing or were highly stressed individuals.
4:if you bought a house in the area without realising how noisy motor racing
is,you made a mistake.You should accept that and if it is that much of an
issue then MOVE to a more pieceful area.
5: STOP WASTING PAPER
6: STOP WASTING MY TIME
7: STOP LITTERING
8: STOP WYNING
9: ADMIT YOU MADE A MISTAKE
10: MOVE
Best Regards and good luck re-locating,
( Name deleted for privacy )

Email #2

Dear Quiet Please

I got your leaflet in our letterbox today and believe me I already do ring Noise Control !

My husband and I have lived in this township for many - many years. (At present we live in ******* ) We were here well before that noisy place was put there. For many years we just ignored it, it wasn't on very often and we, like most people around here, just accepted the situation. However in the past few years we have noticed an increase in both the frequency and noise levels of Ruapuna and believe me, we don't have young ears! Last week I tossed and turned for what felt like hours before I leapt from my bed and phoned Noise Control at 11.30 pm on a Thursday night. My memory isn't quite what it used to be but i'm fairly sure they used to stop at 10 pm until a few years ago.

Often when I am out in my garden during the week or if I am out walking , I can hear some bored person with too much money roaring around and around that track monotonously and as you can see from my address I don't live that close to the track either !

I know that some in this township badmouth your group , making comments such as " if they don't like it then they should move" or " they shouldn't have moved into the area" What exactly do these people want ? A 5 mile exclusion zone around that track ? The fact of the matter is that most houses in this area have been here since well before Ruapuna became a carbuncle on our landscape and before the noise reached epidemic proportions ( and even if they haven't been, so what ? ) Nobody should be entitled to inflict that amount of noise onto neighbours. If they have enough money to race cars why don't attach decent mufflers as well ?

I'm sorry if I sound angry, but the fact is, I am angry, this USED to be a good quiet Rural township and now Garry Moore and his chums have handed over our rights to car racing folk, who in the main, head home to quiet areas once they've made their noise in our area.

My husband and I are appreciative of your group's efforts as are quite a few people here, the problem is that many people don't like to stand up out from the crowd and others like to complain but not DO anything, I think we fall somewhere between the two so many thanks for your efforts.

Keep up the good work

Regards
( Name deleted for privacy )

Please click "Comments" below to read more.

Late January

2007-02-01T20:52:00.000+13:00

Thursday 25th : Loud Cars on the track ALL DAY

Thursday Night - Speedway until 11.30 PM ( Loud enough to be heard in Prebbleton)

Friday 26th : Loud cars on the track all day

Saturday 27th : Loud cars on the track all day

Saturday Night : Speedway until 11.00 PM ( Loud enough to be heard in Prebbleton)

Sunday 28th January : Loud cars on track ALL DAY

Monday 29th January: 1-2 loud cars on track all day ( once again a single car which could be heard outside the Cookietime Factory Shop on the Main South Road )

The previous week, noise from Motorcycle racing and practise continued for 3-4 days in a row - this was so loud it was audible over 5 km away at times.

This level of noise is happening because the rules concerning noise from Ruapuna are SO liberal that this is actually permissable, unlike other Countries ( and indeed other cities in NZ ) which have regulated Noise producing Racetracks so that residents living nearby are afforded some protection and respite from noise.

Residents who for decades lived alongside Ruapuna with no complaints have now had their lives affected to the point that some of them are suffering health problems because of the continual noise.

On January 30th the noise continued from the Open Track at Ruapuna but thankfully at a lower level .
January 31st delivered loud noise from both the Open Track AND Speedway throughout the day, until 6.00 pm when the driver of an incredibly loud car finally tired of driving around the Open Track . No doubt he then headed home for some peace and quiet.

Goodwill to all ... ?

2006-12-27T10:17:00.000+13:00

Xmas eve.... a time usually given to quiet nights with family and early nights for children who head to bed to sleep and await Santa's arrival .

Not for 2-3 Powerbuilt Speedway members, who at about 6 pm decided to roar around the track on bikes until well after dark ( about 10 pm) keeping children awake and enhancing their reputation as "neighbours from hell".
Thanks also for running the grader on your track ALL day on Boxing Day, a day treasured by most Kiwis as a day on which to quietly relax . Very considerate.

Then , in another great example of " how to be the perfect neighbours-from-hell " , on December 27th at 7.15 in the morning , a lone but LOUD motorcyclist hit the Powerbuilt Speedway track, waking up locals as far away as 1.5 km. There's a word for people like this but we won't use it here.

They've taken the "sport " out of Motorsport

2006-12-18T07:22:00.000+13:00

If you would like to get an understanding of why Auckland Speedway promoter Dave Stewart ran advertisements on ChCh radio last year saying " We're not allowed to make noise in Auckland so we're coming to CHRISTCHURCH to make it ! " , just check out this video. Unlike Aucklanders, people living here have been given no protection at all from the shocking and unhealthy noise levels demonstrated in these videos. Here is another example of noise from last saturday night.

This noise started at 7.00 pm and finished at approx. 11.30 pm .

After that residents on were kept awake by traffic leaving Speedway until 12.30 pm THEN until 2.15 am they listened to the rattling trailers and loud vehicles of Competitors leaving down local roads. The Speedway has a 24 hour Liquor License .

In every way Saturday 16th December was an appalling day - from 8 am when locals listened to speeding boyracer cars arriving to set up for Drift Racing at the Powerbuilt Racetrack - to the enforced noise of Drift Racings' squealing tyres, and cars so loud they could be heard inside homes in the Templeton Township 3km away. This is noise from their Practise day - held on 12th December.

An hour or so of relative quiet and into another block of noise - this time from Speedway and so loud that people living 10 km away could hear it.

Then to top it off a fireworks display in an area full of Horse Training establishments.

After dropping a note in local's letterboxes giving 48 hours notice of a fireworks display "between 9.30 - 10 pm " this Saturday Night, Ruapuna Speedway actually held the display at 11.40 pm .

This meant that local farmers and trainers had to stand out in paddocks for 2 hours waiting for this "display" to start in an attempt to be there to calm horses and other stock .One resident left his night- shift job early to get home and look after horses only to have to stand about for two hours.
Residents have asked Speedway Management NOT to hold Fireworks displays because the mortars used terrify stock . There have been two instances where horses, frightened by the noise , have bolted through fences, incurring large Vet fees . These people are indeed the " neighbours from hell ". This area has been "the home of Harness Racing " for longer than Ruapuna has been here .

It's not just on weekends that locals are force fed this noise. During the week this racetrack continues to force noise onto neighbours. This noise carried on for eight and a half hours on Friday 16th December.

This extremely noisy racetrack complex now operates virtually every day from 9 in the morning until 6 at night thanks to rules set down in the 1999 Christchurch City Plan. Of course when Speedway operates the noise carries on until close to midnight.

Remember when listening to the above videos, that they were filmed one km from the track .Consider also that inside the track, where, judging from a photo in today's Press, many children are seated just metres from this noise, levels reach 110 dbA - hearing loss can be caused by exposure to noise at 85dbA. This noise is THREE TIMES louder than that .

Consultation - what's that ?

2006-12-05T20:38:00.000+13:00

Despite claims by Ruapuna management that Templeton residents "had every opportunity to make submissions " not one resident did.
Why ? Because not one resident knew about the proposed rule change.
Why ? Because other parties involved in the rule change did NOT have the common decency or civic mindedness to directly inform the local community that the rule change was in the pipeline.

Members of the various Ruapuna Car Clubs , who could have, in some cases, walked across the road to the homes of residents who have lived alongside their track for decades, didn't even give them the courtesy of a letter , or an item in the small community newsletter.

Christchurch City Council and our Community Board didn't alert locals to the fact that a MotorRacing track had applied to extend their hours of operation and increase their permitted noise levels.
City Council and Community Board didn't advocate on behalf of residents and ratepayers in this area . They listened to submissions that spoke of the need to make NOISE and completely forgot( ?) that residents would have to listen to this noise.

It seems that once this had happened once then it was OK to keep doing it. As if the rule change wasn't bad enough, in 2001 some bright spark had a really DUMB idea. lets spend $70,000 on a "burnout pad " and situate it at Ruapuna....(way to look after the environment guys ! ) Locals called a meeting to oppose it. Hundreds of them turned out to voice their opposition and at the end of the meeting they were promised that they would have a chance to make submissions about it. A month later they got a letter telling them the burnout pad was "non notifiable " - tough luck !
( The burnout Pad has been used about 3-4 times since 2001 - way to waste ratepayers money guys ! )

More recently a resident in this area was alerted to the fact that No Stopping signs were going to be placed outside homes in Hasketts Road - " to save Ruapuna money on traffic management ".... " consultation has taken place ...with Ruapuna and the Templeton Golf Club "
NOT with locals outside whose homes these signs were to be placed !
They consulted the people who were directly and financially benefitting from the signs - and a Golf Club . The only part of the Golf Course affected was the BACK of the course , not the frontage, or the entranceway but the BACK of the course. But those people who actually LIVE in the area and who would most affected by a No Stopping sign outside their properties were not consulted at all !
After hearing of the proposal affected locals had two days to write letters opposing it.
In the end, the signs were not put up outside their homes but if an alert resident from Awatea hadn't spotted this travesty and alerted locals then it would have been yet another example of Council appalling lack of consultation with this community.
We're not sure how much this exercise cost , but most weekends you can drive past these No Stopping signs - and have a chuckle at all the cars parked in and around them.
Way to waste ratepayers money guys !
The lack of consultation with local residents is an indictment on this Council and makes a mockery of it's 'visions' and 'commitments to consult".
Locals are also not well served by one of our Councillors, Bob Shearing, who when phoned by one of his constituents regarding noise from Ruapuna told them " i'm not going to take sides ". Well Councillor Shearing, you stood for Council to represent people in this Ward NOT the Motor Racing lobby and we would suggest that at the very least you could drive out here one day and meet the people affected by this noise.

Our Submission to Council

2006-11-29T21:14:00.000+13:00

Submission- read to the ChCh City Council On August 24th 2006

This problem is about Noise Pollution - pure and simple - and how it is affecting the health and lives of ratepayers and residents in our area

Living within a 5 km radius of a motor racing facility should not disqualify people from the basic human right to enjoy some peace and quiet , especially over the summer months , when everybody likes to get out and enjoy the warmer weather and longer evenings

The Christchurch City Council is the Landlord of the area leased to Motor Racing Interests in Canterbury. Your tenants, up until recently, have been good neighbours . However since the City Plan has taken effect your tenants have become the proverbial neighbours from hell . The amount of noise and associated problems coming from the Powerbuilt facility at Ruapuna now amounts to what could only be described as a Legal Nuisance.

Prior to 1999 Ruapuna was allowed to make noise between 65 dbA (l10) and 85 DbA 120 days a year between 9 am and 7 pm – the rest of the time they had to comply with Open Space 3.

For those who live in our area these rules afforded us protection, gave us a good amount of quiet time and allowed Ruapuna users a good crack at what is a very noisy pastime.

After 1999 Ruapuna was permitted to make noise up to 90 dbA on any day of the year ( 365 days ) and on 200 of these days they are allowed to make noise up to 95 dbA – between 9 am and 11 pm

These rules may have looked harmless on paper, and theory is all very well but we are here to tell you that in real life they are causing health problems and heartache and this part of the City Plan simply isn’t working

So that you might know what these decibel numbers sound like we would like to show you a video, some of this footage was taken from the house of a nearby resident and some of it was taken 1.4 km away. You will see a short passage which starts with some birdsong, this is the sound of one car on the track, it’s followed by footage of the same car taken from inside the home of a local, all doors and windows are shut . All of this noise you are about to hear is heard in the Templeton Township as the second statement in your information package shows and the speedway noise at the end can easily be heard up to 10 km away on many nights. The first footage is of drift racing ( DVD of Noise played to Councillors )

Overseas Noise Pollution Experts have commented that this noise is outrageous and one states that the levels set in the City Plan are the highest he has seen in his 30 years as a Noise Expert.

You will know by now, that there are many, many weeks when we are exposed to Noise seven days a week, and on some of these days we are exposed to noise from nine in the morning until, literally , past 11 at night.

That’s an appalling FOURTEEN hours a day. Most days in the summer we average 6-8 hours a day and by anyone’s standards that’s a disgrace.

We have often had to listen to that Speedway Noise (A DVD of Noise from Ruapuna was played to Councillors ) until close to midnight, when both adults and children are trying to sleep . A mother in W********* road, well over 5km away tells us that her children are kept awake by this noise. Sometimes we listen to that noise twice on ONE weekend.

Compare this with this Australian example of Motor Racing Noise Levels in your information package.

 We KNOW that Ruapuna complies with the City Plan, although does not absolve it from
adherence  to Section 16 of the Resource Management Act – we know the numbers and
we know that your  noise experts say that they are acceptable.They are NOT acceptable.
It is not acceptable that  ratepayers have to leave their own homes for hours on end,
day after day,  to find peace and quiet,  it is NOT acceptable that some in our community
are suffering ill health because of this noise and it is NOT acceptable that two summers
have passed  and now we are looking at another  “summer from hell”

In many countries overseas it is seen as imperative to PROTECT people from Noise Pollution, but here it seems it was OK to actually increase the dose of noise emitted into our Community , we would have thought it sensible to either lower noise levels and increase days or decrease days and raise noise levels .. but to actually treble days of operation and more than Double Noise Levels beggars belief ,

We think that people living near a motor racing facility should be protected not punished

Talkback & Noise

2006-11-23T11:34:00.000+13:00

Following another article in The Christchurch Press , Christchurch talkback hummed for a while with calls about noise from Ruapuna.
A few local residents called Ali Jones and spoke of the effects of the increase in noise and their anger at Council for allowing this to happen.

Ali also took calls from members of various car clubs , one gem of a caller stated that he could hear Speedway from his home at Church Corner and it didn't bother him ! ( Church Corner is a good ten minute drive from Ruapuna ) - if he can hear it from his house how does he think the callers from Templeton feel about it ?

A Drag Club member trotted out the tired old argument about "how long have people lived there " - we note that he didn't mention the Templeton Golf Course which was there 30 years BEFORE Ruapuna and the Templeton Township has been here since 1861. Most of the homes in the rural area around Ruapuna have been there since the 1960's and some have been there since the 1950's , indeed a high percentage of present residents have been here since BEFORE Ruapuna was dumped out here, we are tired of listening to the noise from what is now being called " the neighbour from hell ".

Ali also took a call from a self described " motor racing nut " who said he ate, drank and breathed motor racing .." there wouldn't be a bigger motor racing man than me " he said , BUT he thought that Ruapuna were not behaving as Good Neighbours should and weren't giving local residents a "fair go". He also observed that there was absolutely no planting around the facility to mitigate noise and that the facility had gotten too noisy for its present situation.

We agree .

A bouquet ... and a brickbat

2006-11-09T11:11:00.000+13:00

This post was originally titled " A Bouquet " but we've since added a brickbat, the paragraph immediately below was written on the evening of Thursday 9th November :
Since Monday 6th November locals have enjoyed an unprecedented FOUR days in a row of QUIET - this is due in part to rain but also because Audi have been hiring the track to test these vehicles.
How utterly pleasant to have vehicles using this track which are very quiet and can't be heard for miles around - what a difference it makes to the lives of locals.

A Brickbat to the owners/ drivers of the two VERY loud cars who couldn't even shut up for a minute on Armistice Day at 11.11 am , people as far away as Templeton heard your noise as they tried to observe a minutes silence .

Guy Fawkes day goes off with a bang

2006-11-05T17:33:00.000+13:00

The noise started at 9.15 this morning - Sunday.
A supporter living in Hornby has phoned to say the noise is driving him to distraction and that his morning in the garden is over and he's off inside to get away from the noise.

A mother living in the rural area has taken her children away for the day because she's concerned about their young ears and because the noise means she is unable to go outside. She left home, she marked time, staying away until 5.30 and returned to find this noise still going - 8.5 hours after it started!
She wasn't the only one driven from her HOME this Sunday and it's an indictment on this Council that residents have had noise force fed to them on Saturday , Saturday Night AND Sunday. We wonder if someone from Council would like to pay us a visit and explain to us exactly HOW residents are supposed to cope with these levels of noise ?
NB : The wind is actually blowing sound AWAY from the home where the noise is being recorded and the home is approx. 1.5 km from the track - which gives an indication of the severity of the noise.

Letter to Motor Racing Fans

2006-10-26T17:09:00.000+13:00

This Blog is not anti-motor racing.
This Blog is about Noise & Nuisance
The inescapable fact about most motor racing is that it is NOISY.
In fact it is one of the noisiest pastimes in the world.

For that reason alone we believe that in allowing these liberal noise rules the Christchurch City Council has failed in its duty to Ratepayers in this area to protect us from excessive noise, and that it has exposed us to levels that, at best, have taken away our right to enjoy our properties and at worst, are dangerous.

We don't want to close Ruapuna down.

We have all lived alongside Ruapuna for years and decades and NEVER laid a complaint until we started to be bombarded with Noise every day and every weekend.

You're welcome to check out a noise diary kept by a local resident

We think that even the most passionate Car or Bike Enthusiast would not begrudge us the right to a fair amount of peace and quiet on our own properties, the same peace & quiet you are entitled to in YOUR homes.

Please take the time to read the posts on this site and to educate yourself about this issue.

A "Diary" of Noise

2006-10-25T20:25:00.000+13:00

A few of our neighbours have been keeping "diaries" of the noise we are forced to listen to , these notes are from a neighbour who lives approx 1.5 km from the track

21st January : All Day Motorbike Racing - LOUD
21st January - Speedway ( early evening till 11.30 PM ) Heard over 10 km away
22nd January - All Day Motorbike racing - LOUD
23rd January ( Monday ) Cars on track all day - Heard over 3.5 km away
24th January ( Tuesday ) Cars on track all day - Ditto
26th January (Thursday) Loud cars on track all day - Ditto
26th January ( Thursday ) Speedway until 11.30 PM - LOUD
27th January ( Friday ) multiple cars on track all day - Practise day Lady Wigram - Horrendously LOUD
28th January ( Saturday ) Car Racing all day - Lady Wigram - Ditto

OK .. let's save on " dittos and louds ".. this noise is usually heard 3-4 km away - and to give you an idea of the "loudness " of 'one car on track ' - a roofing worker , working on a roof ( funnily enough ) over 5 km away , wrote a letter to the ChCh Press expressing his alarm at finally tracking down the noise that had been driving him to distraction for 3 days - it was A SINGLE CAR on the track at Ruapuna
....to continue :

28th January ( Saturday Night ) Speedway - until after 11.PM
29th January ( Sunday ) Motor Racing all day until approx 6.00 pm - Lady Wigram
30th January ( Monday ) Loud car on track in morning
31st January : (Tuesday ) LOUD car on track all day
1st February - We had a quiet day !!!
2nd February- ( Thursday ) Cars on track all day
3rd Feburary ( Friday ) Loud Cars on track all day
4th February (Saturday) Loud Car Racing all day
4th February ( Saturday Night ) Speedway until 9.30 pm
5th February (Sunday) Loud cars on track all day
6th February (Monday ) Loud Drag Racing - afternoon
7th February ( Tuesday ) Car/s on track most of day
8th February ( Wednesday ) Rain - No activity
9th February ( Thursday ) Rain ( Quiet !!)
10th February ( Friday ) Multiple cars and Bikes on track all day ( 9.30 am - 6.30 pm )
11th February ( Saturday ) Racing all day
11th February ( Saturday Night ) Speedway ( 7pm till 11pm )
12th February ( Sunday ) Racing all day
13th February ( Monday ) Loud Car on track at 10.00 am ........

.......and on and on and on it goes - you may have noticed that on some days we have to listen to this noise from 9 am until 11 at night - or later , that's right - even though Noise Experts the world over have been telling us for years that this kind of exposure to noise is dangerous, the Christchurch City Council permits us to be exposed to these levels.

Dunkin' Donutz on a Sunday

2006-10-23T18:31:00.000+13:00

So anyway - there we are - forced to listen to noise all day Saturday ( Labour Weekend 2006 ) and of course then again all day Sunday ... actually we're woken at 8.15 on Sunday by the PA System from the Remote Control Cars ( known locally as 'the Mee Mee Cars ' ) these good folk lease an area inside Ruapuna the size of an average home and yet feel the need to use a PA system that can be heard 2 km away to announce their next races - but thats par for the course, why consider the neighbours when you're into cars aye ?

Then there's the Drag Racing, maybe if the Drag racing stayed on the track locals wouldn't mind it quite as much, but it doesn't ... on October 23rd 2005 a driver attending Drag races at Ruapuna bought his car out onto a local road and did a practice run, well done to him ! On the same day another driver tested his car for about 30 minutes outside homes close to Ruapuna Racetrack , revving his motor , taking off, stopping ...revving ... all this at 8.30AM on a Sunday and on public roads.

Curiously, it seems as though a sizeable chunk of Drag racing followers suffer from some kind of self esteem problem and have to attach a giant exhaust pipe to their car - this makes their cars sound really really loud, ( a lot like this one) and may make them feel really really important, or maybe the owners of cars with loud exhaust systems just like to be noticed, who knows. The upshot of this though is that locals not only get to listen to Drag racing all day , they also get to listen to Drag Racing fans' really loud cars roaring up and down their roads.Having said that, we must acknowledge the attendees who drive quiet cars and don't feel the need to draw attention to themselves by driving loud cars - to those good folk - thank you ! Your consideration, safe driving and maturity really does make a difference - and your own neighbours probably appreciate your quiet cars also .
But sadly there's more .. Locals out here also get to watch and listen to a fair amount of these people driving at high speed up and down their roads, doing 'donuts ' on our roads , some of them reaching speeds of 150- 160 kmh , some practising drifting around corners .. what fun ! what thrills ! Occasionally though it all goes pear shaped...

Its lucky this wannabe race car driver didn't meet another car coming the other way as he careered down a local road - its lucky he managed to get his mates to get him out of the ditch before Police arrived and asked him how it happened . Light not so good in this photo? - thats because locals were still listening to Noise at 7 pm when this bright spark decided to use local roads as a play area - lets see ... the noise started at 8.15 am ( the PA system from the remote control cars ) and finished at 7 pm - thats 10.5 hours of noise - and you think you live in a Clean Green Country and that Christchurch cares about the health of all its citizens ? Think again .

WHO Guidelines for Community Health

2006-10-22T22:55:00.000+13:00

a: The precautionary principle
In all cases, noise should be reduced to the lowest level achievable in a particular situation. Where there is a reasonable possibility that public health will be damaged, action should be taken to protect public health without awaiting full scientific proof.

b :The polluter pays principle
The full costs associated with noise pollution (including monitoring, management, lowering levels and supervision) should be met by those responsible for the source of noise.

c:The prevention principle
Action should be taken where possible to reduce noise at the source. Land-use planning should be guided by an environmental health impact assessment that considers noise as well as other pollutants.

In the case of Ruapuna & the Christchurch City Council the noise seems to have deliberately been increased to the highest level achievable and we can only assume that Council is awaiting scientific proof of illness within this community.

" They wouldn't do this to dogs "

2006-10-21T15:26:00.000+13:00

Two emails sent to Christchurch City Councillors on October 21st , 2006:

Hello from the Christchurch City Noise Dump.

Residents living within earshot of the Powerbuilt Racetrack at Ruapuna would like to lodge another complaint about the levels of noise we are being forced to endure this weekend and have also endured through the past week.

Last weekend residents suffered through two days of " Muscle Mania " at Ruapuna and next weekend we get to listen to two days of Motorbike racing , in between this we have to listen to cars on the track at Ruapuna every week day and of course soon we will have to endure Speedway noise until 10 -11 pm at night. ( Of course in the view of many motor racing fans we shouldn't be complaining because we " listen to aeroplanes all day anyway " )

Today October 21st, a lovely spring saturday ( so far ) residents living within 3-4 km of Ruapuna get to listen to the Noise that the adverts on television this week promised ; " LOUD LOUD LOUD " they boasted and residents living here can attest to that.

We also have the promise of more " LOUD LOUD LOUD " tomorrow , and if it rains tomorrow we can look forward to Labour Day being "LOUD LOUD LOUD ".

Many locals have actually had to leave their homes today, this is a traditional gardening day in Canterbury but gardens can't be enjoyed in this part of Christchurch this weekend, indeed even inside homes 2 km away the noise is unbearable.

The level of noise that residents in this area are being forced to live with is unhealthy, unsafe and is causing huge anguish and stress for many living here.

It is 2.20 pm, we still have another 3 -4 hours of this noise today and if tomorrow is sunny we would have to listen to another 8 hours of it, indeed the gates open at Ruapuna tomorrow at 8.00 am.

We trust that our City Council will quickly work towards protecting residents in this area from Noise Levels that are causing harm and ill health.

And this email sent, shortly afterwards to City Councillors, Noise Control and other Council Employees who seem to think this noise is acceptable:

We have just received a call from a resident living closer to Ruapuna , this is what she had to say:

" My 8 year old daughter just asked me to call Noise Control because the noise is making the house shake and she is scared "

For your information the noise being forced onto us today is coming from :

The open track at the raceway
Speedway
Remote Control car track

Three different Motor "Sports " within Ruapuna Park are simultaneously producing Noise today

You may think the remote control cars wouldn't be a problem on top of all the noise already being emitted from Speedway & the open track , but please be aware that the PA system from the remote control area can be heard two kilometres away and the high pitched squeal from these cars is heard one km away.

Golfers on the Templeton Golf Course ( established in 1939 ) today are, of course also having to contend with this noise as they walk around the course .

We can only hope the rain that is promised for Christchurch arrives, until Council acts to protect us from this noise, the weather gods are our only hope.

Our MP comes to listen & the Mayor gets a letter

2006-10-17T11:44:00.000+13:00

Another weekend has passed . Since our last blog, the only respite we have had from noise has been on days when it rained.
Last week we listened to noise every day and on friday, saturday and sunday ( 13th,14th & 15th October ) we listened to noise for an average of 7 hours a day.
On Friday the noise was so bad many locals phoned Noise Control, on Saturday the noise went from lunchtime until 6.30 pm and on Sunday the noise started at 9.30 am and continued until about 4 pm.
On Sunday the 15th October our local MP ( Brian Connell ) visited a few local homes and heard for himself the appalling levels we have to put up with. Despite a strong wind moderating the noise a bit, Brian was able to see for himself that this is NOT a minor problem.
We had also extended an invitation to Christchurch City Councillors to come out this weekend to meet locals and visit homes affected by noise. We received NO replies, or visits, from Councillors.

Brian was also shown a letter written by an employee of Canterbury's Mental Health Services to Gary Moore the Mayor of Christchurch, which states in part .." the referrals have indicated a significant deterioration in mood, depressive symptons and suffering from high levels of stress, the cause being them having extreme difficulty managing the constant and excessive noise generated by nearby Ruapuna Raceway Track ."

What do we want ?

2006-10-06T12:18:00.000+13:00

We would like the Christchurch City Council to admit that in this case the City Plan is not working and to revisit the City Plan in relation to Ruapuna

Allowing these levels of noise and days of operation has quite literally taken away the rights of local residents to enjoy their properties and homes.

We have always said that we were all happy with the pre 1999 rules ( 120 days at lower noise levels ) . We do NOT want to close Ruapuna down.

We want a return to the previous regime which worked for everyone.

Listen for yourself

2006-09-26T17:13:00.000+12:00

Tuesday 26th September - locals have had to listen to noise every single day for the past week ... which is nothing new . Overseas Noise Pollution Experts call this "outrageous ".

This Noise is deemed to be acceptable for us to be exposed to ...365 days a year .. by the Christchurch City Council.
This video was shot on a cheap-ish camera - outside a home within 3km of Ruapuna. The noise is being made by 2-3 cars. This noise carried on ALL DAY

There are hundreds of people living in the area around Ruapuna who are affected by the noise these 2-3 drivers are making ..what's the bet the drivers are wearing earplugs ?

Yesterday (Monday 25th September) noise even louder than this was inflicted on to locals for 8 hours.
Close your eyes and imagine this every day - up to 8 hours a day ( sometimes 14 hours a day ) invading your home.
We are very reasonable people, despite having this level of noise forced into our homes & properties for nearly THREE YEARS - this is all that we are asking the Christchurch City Council to do.

We pay Rates for THIS ?

2006-09-20T09:00:00.000+12:00

Saturday 16th September - Drift Racing at Ruapuna

Saturday Morning 7.30 am : Neighbours not already up are awoken by the PA System at Ruapuna , soon afterwards at 7.45 am the first of the days 'customers' arrive - two car loads of Boy Racers who speed up and down local roads in the usual thuggishly loud cars, they slow down to do some practise drifts outside homes then one car stops and its driver vomits in the driveway of a neighbour . Don't mind us , we just live here.

It's not even nine in the morning and ratepayers in a 2-3 km radius have to listen to inane conversation and comments broadcast into our properties and homes from the PA System at Ruapuna.

Cars continue to arrive most of them sporting exhaust pipes especially fitted to make MORE noise - no such things as mufflers with these people ( what is it they say about blokes that drive loud cars ? - what IS that about ? ) . All we can hear now is a seemingly endless stream of loud cars and booming car stereos and this is just the spectators.

The Drift racing starts - squealing tyres (with toxic smoke rising in clouds from the overheated rubber ) , horrendously loud exhausts, and somebody screaming a commentary through the PA system .... and its only 10 am.
Neighbours who later phone Ruapuna to complain about being woken at 7.30 am are told that "it didn't happen "
" Noise Control " fails to act on complaints about PA system at 7.30 am but later admits to " having got it wrong "

Two nearby households have already left their homes for the day and soon we shall be leaving, the noise is unbearable , depressing, stressful and inescapable. I'm sitting inside with all doors and windows shut and their noise invades my home. We shall stay away until around 5.30 pm.

This video shows Drift Racing at Ruapuna - an example of noise the ChCh City Council deems is safe for us to listen to 365 days a year.
As an aside, check out the toxic smoke Drift Racing emits on that video - how DOES the ChCh City Council justify making ratepayers switch from woodburners to keep our air clean when they permit this to happen ?

Neighbours listened to noise all day yesterday, today... and tomorrow* we will be listening to more noise.

*Sunday 17 th Sept- Car racing but the Gods are kind to those most affected and the wind blows a lot of the noise away.
Monday 18th Sept - Cars on track off and on all day
Tuesday 19th Sept - Cars on track most of today - the noise is brutal, it is clearly heard on Yaldhurst Road three kms away and in Templeton Township - since 9.15 am there have been 3 or 4 obscenely loud cars circuiting the track - the noise finally stops at 5.55 pm - more than 8 hours of noise

About us

2006-09-01T18:55:00.000+12:00

Giddaye !

Let us tell you a little about our Community:

We are a diverse group of people, who up until a few years ago had never protested, written a letter to an editor , or had cause to complain about the place we live in.
Our community includes people who are self employed, shift workers, office workers, retirees, public servants, engineers and farmers
Two of our community have done volunteer work - in the past - for Motor Racing Facilities ( marshalling, building projects etc )
We live in both the rural area around Templeton and in the Templeton Township itself
We have lived in this area for ... 20 years, 38 years, 7 years, 17 years, "generations", 33 years, 83 years, 55 years , 5 years ,"was born here 50 years ago" etc etc - so please don't tell us to "leave if we don't like it " - our families, friends and roots are here in this area.
Up until about 3 years ago not ONE of us had ever laid a complaint about Ruapuna - or had cause to complain, for that matter.
We have really grown to dislike Noise Bullies - yes, bullies - who force their noise into other people's lives .

NZ Noise Pollution Links ?

2006-08-27T14:29:00.000+12:00

Why are there no links to any Kiwi Noise Pollution sites on this blog ?

Try Googling " Noise Pollution New Zealand ".

The first few results are from overseas Noise Pollution Sites - then a result about whales and Noise Pollution in NZ.

So, now, we're wishing we had a whale - or maybe a dolphin or two - living in our neighbourhood, maybe then Council or Government might show some interest .

Noise Diary Sample

2006-08-01T16:12:00.000+12:00

Part of a Diary kept by a neighbour - Our Rates have all risen but our quality of life has seriously declined .
The Noise ratings in the end column ? - This is Medium Loud

Noise Pollution

2006-08-01T03:15:00.000+12:00

Noise intensity is measured in decibel units. The decibel scale is logarithmic; each 10-decibel increase represents a tenfold increase in noise intensity. Human perception of loudness also conforms to a logarithmic scale; a 10-decibel increase is perceived as roughly a doubling of loudness. Thus, 30 decibels is 10 times more intense than 20 decibels and sounds twice as loud; 40 decibels is 100 times more intense than 20 and sounds 4 times as loud; 80 decibels is 1 million times more intense than 20 and sounds 64 times as loud. Distance diminishes the effective decibel level reaching the ear. Thus, moderate auto traffic at a distance of 100 ft (30 m) rates about 50 decibels. To a driver with a car window open or a pedestrian on the sidewalk, the same traffic rates about 70 decibels; that is, it sounds 4 times louder. At a distance of 2,000 ft (600 m), the noise of a jet takeoff reaches about 110 decibels—approximately the same as an automobile horn only 3 ft (1 m) away.

Subjected to 45 decibels of noise, the average person cannot sleep. At 120 decibels the ear registers pain, but hearing damage begins at a much lower level, about 85 decibels. The duration of the exposure is also important. There is evidence that among young people hearing sensitivity is decreasing year by year because of exposure to noise, including excessively amplified music. Apart from hearing loss, such noise can cause lack of sleep, irritability, heartburn, indigestion, ulcers, high blood pressure, and possibly heart disease. One burst of noise, as from a passing truck, is known to alter endocrine, neurological, and cardiovascular functions in many individuals; prolonged or frequent exposure to such noise tends to make the physiological disturbances chronic. In addition, noise-induced stress creates severe tension in daily living and contributes to mental illness.