Christchurch Press Editorial ( Courtesy Press Website )

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.

An Overview

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).

Ruapuna Noise Rules

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