Foreword

Summary

Noise has long been the Cinderella pollution for people and the environment, mainly because there are so many different characteristics to account for, different sources of noise from house parties and hi-fi systems to industrial noise, and different impacts on people because of their different sensibilities. The damage noise causes to employees in the workplace began to be recognised along with health and safety at work, but in the wider environment, the fact that over the years the courts looked at noise in the context of its relevant locality has tended to mask the invidious impact of noise on individuals. The EU Environmental Noise Directive eventually recognised the impact of noise on human health and well-being and the World Health Organisation has recognised that noise can affect human health.

This book, by Francis McManus, who has had a long-term interest in the law of nuisance, including noise nuisance, with Andy McKenzie, who has had a forty year career in noise consultancy and acoustics research, brings together the law and science of the impact of noise on human beings. This book is a very valuable contribution to this neglected area of the law. Lawyers need to understand the science behind noise, including basic acoustics and the perception of sound and measuring sound, and its impact, before they can properly advise. The detailed historical background to noise legislation is well informed and set the current law in context with very helpful chapters on subjects such as neighbourhood noise, traffic noise, human rights and the role of planning and noise.

While this book deals with noise in the human context there is increasing evidence that noise impacts on wildlife and ecosystems, but that is for another day.

This book is highly commended and should be on the bookshelf of every lawyer who deals with the environment and is likely to act for clients where noise is an issue, as it is increasingly in the planning field.