All that Noise

So it seems once again Stephen and Suzanne Roper are going to court to silence Alton Towers. Over on the local news papers website, The Sentinel They have the latest in this long running saga.

The Ropers live right next door to Alton Towers and have become unhappy about the increasing amount of noise coming from the park, whether it is from fireworks, mechanical noise or screaming riders. In 2004 the initial court case saw a noise limit of 32dB imposed on the park. From what I can make out this is maximum level at the Ropers front door. However Tussauds appealed against this and the level was increased to 40dB.

This latest court case see the battle being taken to the High Court in London as the Ropers say 40dB is too loud and the noise limit is registered as an average over an hour not taking into account any short loud noise bursts. But taking things into perspective what is 40dB.

A quick search on trusty old Google brings up a couple of interesting charts. Make it Louder shows that 40dB is the equivalent of a whispered conversation, a normal conversation is 60dB. So the current restriction outside the house is hardly deafening. The British Wind Energy Association which wishes to build wind farms also has a noise comparison chart on here we discover that the night time background noise in a rural location is 20 - 40dB, presumably it's louder during the day. I would describe the Ropers as living in a rural location so this shows that 40dB is a perfectly acceptable and expected noise level for where they live. A quiet bedroom is 35 dB so the previous restriction of 32dB seems unreasonably low in comparison. If we go to a totally remote extreme in the dessert at night in the middle of nowhere the noise level is expected to be 30dB.

I'm sure there are millions of residents up and down this country who would dream of having a noise limit of 40dB. How many people live near airports or busy roads? In 2004 DEFRA created a road noise map of London. 13% of Londoners deemed road noise a serious problem. Studying the actual results it would appear that 22% of London’s population is exposed to road noise in excess of 60dB. 6% are still exposed to this level at night. Suddenly the Ropers seem very lucky living where they do; at least for them the park is silent at night and for several months of the year.





As the old saying goes, let he who has cast no sin throw the first stone. And the Ropers are in no position to throw stones. Mr and Mrs Roper run Churchill China a pottery company in Stoke on Trent. From past articles in the Sentinel and The Sun it would seem neighbours of the pottery are also suffering from noise levels, only they experience it year round and late into the night. I'd be interested to see the result of the noise levels experienced by the local residents and compare it with what the Ropers want for their home.

OK I admit I'm slightly bias in all this being a supporter of the amusement industry. Yes Alton Towers has expanded since the Ropers moved into their cottage but it's not as if Tussauds haven't offered them reasonable compensation. Whether it is £200 to have a meal out during firework display nights or triple glazed windows. Yes I do believe it is unfair to expect someone to live in a noisy environment, even the millions do, but lets get things into perspective and set a sensible noise level and 40 dB certainly seems OK, but 32dB is ridiculously low.

Remember also the Ropers are in the minority. The vast majority of local residents in Alton are in support of the park recognising how critical it is to the local economy. I can't genuinely see Alton Towers closing over this but it could be put on the back burner and left to decline. Then what would all the B&B's, pubs etc. do? Perhaps they could sue the Ropers for loss of earnings.