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Planning
for a Better Environment
Prevention
and Mitigation through Environmental Impact Assessment
Better Air Qualit
Quieter Environment
Better Water Quality
Environmentally Sound Waste
Management and Facilities
Quieter
Environment
ENVIRONMENTAL
NOISE is a pervasive nuisance that affects the quality of
life of many people in Hong Kong. Our goal is to protect and
maintain an acceptable acoustic environment for the community
by:
- Advising
on technical solutions to potential noise problems as identified
during the land-use planning and potential housing development
site review process.
- Managing
noise abatement programmes to bring relief to existing residential
flats and schools adversely affected by traffic noise.
- Enforcing
the Noise Control Ordinance.
We introduced
a new policy to reduce noise from existing roads in 2000.
Some 29 roads are suitable for noise barriers or enclosures
and 72 roads may be suitable for low-noise surfaces. We are
looking for other solutions for about 500 other roads generating
noise in excess of the noise limit. Traffic management is
one option and we carried out a successful three-month trial
to ban heavy vehicles on the West Kowloon Corridor at night.
We have provided results of the trial to District Council
members to facilitate discussions on whether to implement
the ban permanently. In 2001 we will tighten the noise standards
of newly registered vehicles.
We already
recommend barriers, enclosures and low-noise surfaces for
new roads. By the end of 2000, about 30 kilometres of noise
barriers and enclosures have been erected and some 18,000
dwellings protected from excessive traffic noise. About 11
kilometres of highway have been paved with a quieter surface
providing relief to about 16,000 residential flats. Acoustic
insulation and air-conditioners have also been provided to
about 6,000 flats exposed to excessive road noise.
Apart
from road noise, we are continuing with efforts to further
control construction noise. Since 1989 we have limited percussive
piling to a few hours a day in populated areas and from 1999
we have further phased out noisy diesel hammers. General construction
work may be conducted during restricted hours, but this is
tightly controlled. In 2000 we began a review of daytime construction
noise and renovation noise, and we will investigate the practicality
of further control of these areas in 2001. We have also initiated
a study to comprehensively review the acoustical environment
of Hong Kong due to infrastructure projects such as roads
and rails.
Chart
of Quieter road surfaces benefit more dwellings
Chart
of Screening structures benefit more people
Image
of The proposed noise barrier for Shui Pin Wai Estate, Yuen
Long
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