Control of Noise from Transport Sources
The means to minimise any potential for excessive noise from transport activities, including road traffic, rail lines or air traffic, falls under state and federal jurisdictions.
Noise control is a shared responsibility between landowners, developers, and infrastructure providers. Infrastructure providers, such as Main Roads and the Public Transport Authority, must also meet design requirements to reduce noise from transport infrastructure as far as practicable. These noise control requirements are determined on an infrastructure-specific basis for each major road or rail project, but some sources of noise cannot be avoided, and others, such as the requirement for trains to sound horns when approaching rail crossings, are safety requirements under other legislation.
New home developments around major road and rail infrastructure must comply with
State Planning Policy 5.4 Road and Rail Noise. This policy requires developers to use noise modelling to inform prospective homeowners about measures they will need to undertake to keep noise out of their new homes. While these requirements do not apply to existing homes, there are measures that homeowners can take to reduce the level of external noise entering their homes.
Traffic noise is exempt from the Regulations. However, the noise of individual vehicles on public roads that have been modified or not adequately maintained can be reported to the Police, as can noise from burnouts and hooning behaviour. Contact the Police on
131 444 or
submit a report online.
Noise from vehicles on private property may be subject to the Regulations and can be reported to the City of Cockburn by completing a Public Health Complaint Form located
here.
For more information on major road projects contact Main Roads WA by visiting their website www.mainroads.wa.gov.au or telephone 138 138. Enquiries can also be made via email at
[email protected] or by completing an
online form.
For more information of passenger rail projects contact the Public Transport Authority (PTA) by visiting their website
www.pta.wa.gov.au/projects telephone on
13 62 13 or email
[email protected]. You can also complete an
online form.
For more information on the Freight Rail Network contact ARC Infrastructure by visiting their website www.arcinfra.com/Rail-Network, phone
9212 2800 or email
[email protected]. They also have an
online form you can complete.
Jandakot Airport is Perth’s major general aviation airport and one of the busiest airports nationally. It is nearly impossible to stop noise from aircraft, including helicopters from impacting homes within the vicinity of the airport, and the airport operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Jandakot Control Zone describes the airspace within a three nautical mile (5.5km) radius of the airport. This includes the suburbs of Atwell, Banjup, Bibra Lake, Cockburn Central, Leeming, North Lake, South Lake, Success and Yangebup. As aircraft at Jandakot Airport fly under Visual Flight Rule procedures, the pilots use visual landmarks to determine their flight path, so unlike vehicles on the road, there can be variation in the flight paths used by different aircraft.
The suburbs of Cockburn Central, Jandakot, Leeming, South Lake and Treeby are in the vicinity of the Jandakot Airport training circuit. This area is subject to repetitive touchdown and take-off (‘Touch and Go’) circuit movements as a requirement of pilot training exercises and the normal, general aviation activities associated with Jandakot Airport operations.
As a result of the high number of aircraft movements, new housing developments in these areas are subject to additional construction requirements to prevent noise from entering new homes.
For more information visit the following websites:
Jandakot Airport
www.jandakotairport.com.au/community/aircraft-noise.html
Perth Airport
www.aircraftnoise.perthairport.com.au
AirServices Australia (for aircraft noise)
www.airservicesaustralia.com/about-us/contact-us/
Aircraft noise must be lodged with AirServices Australia by telephone on 1800 802 584 (freecall) Monday-Friday (excluding public holidays), between 10am-4pm (Sydney time) or by lodging a noise complaint, enquiry and comment form online at www.airservicesaustralia.com/community/environment/aircraft-noise/about-making-a-complaint/
Acoustic and specialist consultants can also provide site-specific advice on noise attenuation and mitigation. Consultants can be found through their professional bodies:
Where to find more information on what you can do to exclude noise to an existing home:
Aircraft Noise
The Perth Airport publication '
Reducing Aircraft Noise in Existing Homes' explains how aircraft noise affects houses, describes changes you can consider to exclude noise from your home.
Traffic Noise
To reduce road traffic noise to existing houses, the Vic Roads publication '
A Guide to the Reduction of Traffic Noise', explains how road noise affects homes and describes changes you can consider to exclude noise from your home.