Have you been disturbed by noise from a chainsaw, lawn mower or raging party? If the answer’s yes, Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) wants to hear from you.
EPA Manager of Policy and Regulation, Dan Keely said EPA was reviewing the regulations that apply to noise from residential premises and needed community input.
“We’re encouraging all Victorians to have their say on the future of residential noise regulations by participating in an online survey,” Mr Keely said.
“We want to hear from anyone who’s experienced unreasonable noise and how they’ve dealt with it, whether that’s noise from garden tools, loud music or something else,” he said.
“Unreasonable noise can be a major community disturbance and we want to ensure the regulations are adequate and meet current community expectations.”
Mr Keely said EPA’s review would focus on the Environment Protection (Residential Noise) Regulations 2008, which were due to expire in October 2018.
The regulations list specific noise generating items and the times their use is prohibited.
“The feedback we receive from the survey will help us develop new regulations to replace the existing ones when they expire towards the end of next year.”
Mr Keely said people could participate in a short survey, or a more detailed version.
“The short survey takes less than five minutes and focuses on the types of noise people have experienced and how they were affected,” he said.
“The longer version takes about 30 minutes and is for people wanting to provide more detail and feedback on the current regulations.”
Mr Keely said while EPA helped to develop noise regulations and guidelines, noise pollution was in fact policed by a range of authorities.
“Concerns about residential noise in particular can be directed to local councils or Victoria Police, who can look into complaints about residential noise,” he said.
“We encourage people to speak to their neighbours first as this can often resolve the problem – sometimes people don’t realise how far noise from their property is travelling.”
Mr Keely said police were best placed to respond to late night noise such as parties, or where talking to a neighbour had failed to resolve the issue.
“EPA can investigate noise pollution from industrial premises and EPA licensed sites, but we can also help people identify the correct authority for other noise complaints.”
Anyone with concerns about noise pollution from industrial premises can report it to EPA by calling 1300 EPA VIC (1300 372 842).
The residential noise survey is available at www.epa.vic.gov.au/noisesurvey
The survey closes on 17 May 2017.