Residents impacted by excessive noise in certain Mayo areas

Mayo residents along parts of the county's main roads (N5, N17, N26, N59, N60) and regional roads around the towns of Castlebar and Westport, who may be suffering from sleep deprivation due to heavy passing traffic and environmental noise, are being invited to have their say on the situation, as part of a new Noise Action Plan being drawn up by Mayo County Council.

The 64-page draft plan by the council notes that "environmental noise exposure from transportation noise sources including road, rail and aircraft can significantly impact human health", and adds that research from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Environment Agency (EEA) show that environmental noise can contribute to cardiovascular disease, including hypertension, coronary heart disease (CHD), acute myocardial infraction (AMI) and stroke; cognitive impairment – including the impact on children’s reading and education; sleep disturbance – interfering with sleep and awakenings; annoyance, i.e becoming or increasingly disturbed or bothered by noise; and wellbeing – impacting on quality of life and mental health.

The report further notes that the WHO's definition of health is "a state of complete mental, physical and social well-being" and that noise annoyance relates to a feeling of displeasure, nuisance, disturbance or irritation caused by a specific sound that leads to long-term (chronic) noise annoyance, rather than just a temporary irritation.

The Draft Noise Action Plan 2024 has been prepared to address environmental noise from sections of major roads in Mayo that carry more than three million vehicles per annum, looking at annoyance caused by both day-evening noise, as well as overnight noise (between 11pm and 7am), in order to assess sleep disturbance based on year-long average records.

Specific noise action planning areas identified in County Mayo are the N5 from Westport to the east of Swinford and the N17 from Claremorris south to the Galway County boundary, where over 16,000 individuals are estimated to be impacted by excessive noise levels; while overall, nine priority areas between Westport, Castlebar and Ballindine have been identified, including the urban addresses in Castlebar of Fortlands, Springfield, Meadow Park, Knockaphunta Park, as well as Peter Street, Carrowbeg, Fernhill Grove and Pearse Terrace in Westport, and also Ballindine.

The Noise Action Plan is being prepared in line with Noise Action Planning for the European Communities (Environmental Noise) Regulations 2018 and EU Directive 2002/49/EC relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise (END Directive). This was followed up with the Zero Pollution Action Plan1 (ZPAP) launched in May 2021, with a vision for 2050 that would see air, water and soil pollution reduced to levels no longer harmful to health and natural ecosystems.

According to the regulations, environmental noise is defined as unwanted or harmful outdoor sound created by human activities, including noise emitted by means of transport, road traffic, rail traffic, air traffic and noise in agglomerations over a specified size. It relates to environmental noise to which people are exposed, in built-up areas, in public parks, quiet areas in open country, near schools, near hospitals, and near other noise-sensitive buildings and areas, with noise thresholds set for applicable roads, railways, agglomerations and airports.

Types of noise not included in the regulations are noises caused by the exposed person, noise from domestic activities, noise created by neighbours, noise at workplaces or noise inside means of transport or due to military activities in military areas.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the national authority overseeing the implementation of the Environmental Noise Regulations while Mayo County Council is the Action Planning Authority assigned with devising and implementing the county’s Noise Action Plan. As the designated noise mapping body, Transport Infrastructure Ireland has prepared Strategic Noise Maps for the Action Plan and it is from these maps and its geodirectory data that the approximate number of individuals located within the action planning areas in County Mayo impacted by excess noise levels was found to amount to over 16,000.

According to the council: “The purpose of this Action Plan is to endeavour to manage the existing noise environment and protect the future noise environment within the action planning area. The present action planning area is limited to three sections of the National Primary Road network (N5, N17 and N26) and sections of the National Secondary Road network (N59, N60 and R309 which was the old N5) in Mayo.” 

In its stated action plan, the council says it will "seek to address environmental noise from major roads in the county, will endeavour to maintain satisfactory noise environments where they exist and will have regard to acoustical planning in the planning process (within the confines of the 2000 Planning and Development Act) to endeavour to ensure that future developments include provisions to protect the population from the effects of environmental noise in the interests of residential amenity and public health". In the draft plan, the council also notes several mitigation measures open to it, such as relocating major roads from high-density residential settlements through the provision of new road schemes; provision/enhancement of new walking and cycling infrastructure, public transport services, and park and ride facilities, to encourage greater uptake of active and sustainable transport modes and decrease car dependency; the employment of traffic calming measures where the major road passes through a built-up area; reductions in speed limits where appropriate and in accordance with the legislation; installation of noise barriers on major roads; and changes to road surfaces to porous asphalt, to prevent sound-absorbing properties of the surface from being reduced.