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AMPLIFIED MUSIC
This report is presented at the request of the Chairman following
a question at the last Council Meeting by Councillor & Richards.
The question referred to research at youth clubs in the West Ridirg
and the findings that 'in almost every case the noise of amplified
music is above a safe level' and asked whether a similar situation
exists in Lewisham and what steps might be taken to protect the
hearing of Lewisham's youth?
R W Fearn, Principal Lecturer in Environmental Physics at Leeds
Polytechnic reported the investigations into sound levels made at
ten youth clubs and stated 'The above article only draws attention
to the widespread presence of damaging noise levels in clubs,' and
referred to the need for measurements of hearing loss.
In 1971 a working party of the Noise Advisory Council produced a
report on the Noise Abatement Act of 1960 and made recommendations
aimed at strengthening the working of the Act and possibly as the
basis of a new Noise Abatement Act.
Noise has been defined as unwanted sound and may cause disturbance,
annoyance, be a nuisance or be dangerous to hearing. The former
categories could be grouped under neighbourhood noise and the
latter as noise potentially dangerous to health.
(a) Neighbourhood Noise refers to those noises which may cause
disturbance and annoyance to the general public in their homes
and going about their lawful occasions. It is dealt with by
the Noise Abatement Act and includes:- human noise arising from
lack of consideration for others such as noisy parties, loud
speakers, slamming of car doors etc; noise from entertainments,
sports and advertising; noise from machinery, plant and
equipment in buildings, noise from demolition, construction
and roadworks and noise from factories.
(b) Noise dangerous to hearing refers to that noise which is
potentially dangerous to health and includes:- noise in
factories and offices and shops (where regulations are made)
and noise of machinery and equipment such as road drills,
lathes, rivetters, sand blasters etc. Other noises may be
harmful such as bomb explosions, gunfire and accidental
explosions.
(c) A further category includes those which may be a
nuisance and also potentially hazardous such as:- aircraft
noise, which is dealt with by the Civil Aviation Act 1968,
and the British Airports Authority Act 1965 and motor
vehicle noise, which is governed by the Road Traffic Acts.
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