[Report 1973] / Medical Officer of Health, Watford U.D.C. / Borough.

  • Watford (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1973
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1973] / Medical Officer of Health, Watford U.D.C. / Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    31/44 (page 23)
    Survey covering almost the whole of the Borough; the lattice points being some 500 yards apart. The first survey was made during July using both manual and tape recording instru¬ ments. In the former method readings were taken for 1,000 seconds at 10 second intervals between 10.00am and 12 noon and 10.00pm and midnight at each site. In addition recordings were made covering a 24 hour period at 5 sites. As expected, the survey confirmed that the main sources of noise in Watford are 1. Road Traffic The Ml motorway passes through the North East corner of the Borough and is fed by traffic passing through the town. The sample sites adjoining the main traffic routes and the 24 hour site readings revealed particularly high noise levels. Later in the year the Noise Insulation Regulations were made under the Land Com¬ pensation Act 1973 whereby the highway authority are empowered to pay com¬ pensation for insulation to dwellings where noise levels following new roadworks exceed L.10 (18 hour) of 68 dBA. The survey indicates that noise levels adjoining several main traffic routes through Watford already exceed this standard. 2. Aircraft Movement High level aircraft are often very noisy but they do not appear to constitute a serious nuisance to the great majority of the public in Watford. They did in fact make a significant contribution to the general noise level; as many as 4 aircraft have been recorded during a 15 minute sample period. Low level aircraft movements associated with Leavesden Aerodrome have given rise to complaints and these will be investigated by way of 24 hour surveys during 1974. 3. Industrial Noise The main industry in the Borough is printing but the noise emissions from the large factories are fairly constant, are not excessive and have never caused complaints. The survey did not reveal high levels of noise from any factory, 4. Rail Traffic The main LMR line passes through Watford. There are about 300 main line trains and 90 local trains during a 24 hour period and they do therefore make a significant contribution to the general noise climate of the town. Conclusion The July survey gave information against which future survey findings can be com¬ pared to establish whether there is a deterioration of the noise climate in Watford. The survey will be repeated during January 1974. Poisonous Waste There are no tipping sites for poisonous wastes in Watford nor, for that matter, any other wastes. Notifications under the Poisonous Wastes Act 1972 show that such wastes are removed from 21 factories and these are usually taken to disposal sites in Essex.