As noise from the track increases , locals continue to wonder and worry about the " Community House " for mentally ill people situated on Hasketts Road, virtually over the road from the racetrack .
While locals can ( and are often forced to ) leave home for the day , or the weekend ( or during the night when speedway is on ) the poor 'clients' in the Community House ( Birchwood ) are stuck there , forced to cope with noise levels way above recommended WHO levels .
Who is really looking after these people ? Are their families even aware of the noise that their children or siblings are forced to endure every day ? When a neighbour asked a staff member, back in 2008, how they coped with the noise the reply was " I don't have to live here so I don't worry " !
The property housing these poor people is closer than most of the other properties bought out by Council in 2009 . People living further away suffered hugely before they shifted away, depression was the number one illness amongst residents but we all know that 3 people from the other six bought out houses suffered strokes while living there .
Does anybody care about the residents of this " Community House " or are they going to be added to the long list of people affected by a racetrack & Council which cares little for the surrounding community and is interested only in making as much noise as possible so as to try to prove and hold on to their " existing use rights " ?
Showing posts with label world health organisation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world health organisation. Show all posts
Tuesday
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).
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).
Monday
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
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