Noise maps for urban areas now available online » Environment » 24dash.com

Maps showing the level of environmental noise from major industries, airports, road and rail networks are being published online today.

The Government hopes the maps will help to reduce unwanted noise pollution and protect designated quiet areas.

The maps, which cover 23 urban areas in England, are being made available on the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) website.

Users are able to search by postcode to access maps showing different levels of noise from the various sources over a 24-hour period, or during night-time hours only.

Environment Minister Jonathan Shaw said: "Factors like transport and industry are a necessary part of modern life. But we need to look at what further practical steps we can take to make people's lives more tranquil.

"These maps provide the most comprehensive snapshot yet of noise in our country, all at the click of a mouse. They will provide a springboard to go forward and tackle unnecessary and unreasonable noise pollution.

"We will use them to draw up action plans to reduce noise where practical from major roads and railways, as well as from urban areas. The plans will include measures to protect designated quiet areas from any increase in noise."

The maps cover 80,000km (50,000 miles) of urban roads, 28,000km (17,000 miles) of major road networks, almost 5,000km (3,000 miles) of railways and the areas around 18 airports.

The site also includes information on the number of people exposed to the levels of noise, which is measured from threshold of hearing (0dB) to threshold of pain (120dB).

A library averages about 40dB, while a pneumatic drill measures 95dB.

The mapping, which was carried using computer modelling techniques during 2006/07, is in line with the EU Environmental Noise Directive.

The directive requires member states to make and publish strategic noise maps for all major roads, major railways and major airports, as well as for large urban areas.

The areas involved are:

• Birkenhead
• Blackpool
• Bournemouth
• Brighton
• Bristol
• Coventry
• Hull
• Leicester
• Liverpool
• London
• Manchester
• Nottingham
• Portsmouth
• Preston
• Reading
• Sheffield
• Southampton
• Southend
• Teesside
• The Potteries
• Tyneside
• West Midlands
• West Yorkshire

The maps are available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/noisemapping.