Westminster Open Spaces Noise Study 2008 Final Report

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Westminster Open Spaces NoiseStudy 2008: Final ReportFigure 9. Comparison of measured L A10 noise levels with tranquillity ratings7530.07025.0L A10 (dB)65605520.015.010.0Tranquillity Rating505.045Regents Park - Central AreaHyde Park - Central AreaWestbourne GardensGolden SquarePaddington RecreationEbury SquareSoho SquarePaddington centralSt James's Park - Central AreaSt Anne'sInigo Jones GardensLeicester Square GardensWestbourne Estate CanalsideHyde Park Corner War Memorial (5 mins only)St Mary'sVictoria TowerRiverside WalkLower GrosvenorTrafalgar SquareHarrow Road0.0Noise LevelTranquillity RatingFigure 10. Comparison of measured L A90 noise levels with tranquillity ratings7530.07025.0L A90 (dB)65605520.015.010.0Tranquillity Rating505.045Regents Park - Central AreaHyde Park - Central AreaPaddington RecreationGolden SquareWestbourne GardensSt James's Park - Central AreaEbury SquareSoho SquareInigo Jones GardensSt Anne'sVictoria TowerHarrow RoadPaddington centralRiverside WalkLeicester Square GardensWestbourne Estate CanalsideHyde Park Corner War Memorial (5 mins only)St Mary'sLower GrosvenorTrafalgar Square0.0Noise LevelTranquillity Rating5.2.2 All three of these graphs show the same overall trend as was seen for the L Aeq noise levels,with lower noise levels generally being associated with higher tranquillity ratings. However,for all noise indicators, there is still a large variation within this and a number of significantD121316/R1/0224Scott Wilson LtdMarch 2009
Westminster Open Spaces NoiseStudy 2008: Final Reportexceptions. From these graphs, it is not apparent that better correlation is achieved withany particular noise indicator.5.3 Comparison with noise maps5.3.1 Another source of data on noise levels across London is the Defra commissioned noisemaps. These noise maps present predicted (not measured) noise levels from a number ofdifferent sources (road traffic, railway, aircraft and industrial noise sources). The maps areavailable on the Defra website at http://noisemapping.defra.gov.uk. Noise levels arepresented as both L den and L night noise levels. Due to the presentation of the noise maps, ithas not been possible to extract a precise predicted noise level for each site, and only arange of 5 dB L den was available.5.3.2 For the purposes of these comparisons, it has been assumed the L den noise levels providethe best estimate of the daytime L Aeq noise levels, and that noise at all locations isdominated by road traffic noise. Figure 11 below presents a comparison of measured noiselevels with the road noise L den noise map predictions. The WHO Guideline value of 55 dBL Aeq is also shown for reference.5.3.3 It should be noted that the noise indicators differ between the measurements andpredictions, as the measurements are 1-hour L Aeq values, whilst the predictions are L denvalues. The measurements also include all sources of noise present at the time ofmonitoring, whilst the noise map predictions are for road traffic noise only. Furthermore theDefra website states that the maps only include major roads (defined as roads with morethan 6 million vehicle passages annually). This approach will therefore exclude manyrelatively busy local roads that pass close to certain open spaces. The predictions are alsoshown as a point at the centre of the band of noise levels indicated on the noise map,together with error bars indicating the extents of this band. It should be noted that in somecases the sites were on the border between two bands, and that the lowest band is simply
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