ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on airborne environmental noise, although some of the principles considered are also relevant to ground-borne noise and vibration. Ultimately, noise is experienced by individuals as a subjective response, and so the basis for judgements of impact significance must be robust and transparent so that any potential impacts are clearly communicated to readers of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report. In addition to noise magnitude, other important factors to consider in judging significance include the nature of noise (continuous, intermittent, etc.); the frequency and duration of occurrence; the time of day the impact occurs; and the tonal characteristics. The aim of noise prediction in ESIA is to identify the changes in noise levels which may occur, both in the short and long term, as a result of the development; and to determine the significance of the change.
