TOP STORY: $1.8m to shut out port noise

RACHEL PINDER
The Port of Napier may be asked to pay around $1.86 million to soundproof 62 homes after complaints from residents living on Bluff Hill.
This recommendation is included in an agenda from Napier City Council before a three-day district plan hearings committee hearing on the noise issue starts on June 12.
The hearing is being held to find a solution to solve the issue between the port and the residents who live in nearby Ahuriri and the north side of Napier Hill.
Policy planner David Bishop from Napier City Council explained the district plan includes planning boundaries which control land use in noise-affected areas around the port.
These boundaries define two zones; an inner zone where building new housing (or extensions or alterations) would need resource consent, and an outer zone where new housing is required to be acoustically insulated.
The inner zone includes 62 homes in Seapoint, Karaka, Hornsey, Breakwater and Battery roads. The outer zone includes Thompson, Kowhai, Battery and Hardinge roads as well as Waghorne Street, Outram Street and Kenny Avenue and contains a total of 286 homes.
"We have set out a recommendation that if the port doesn't want to insulate houses in the inner boundary they should consider contributing to a mitigation package similar to what was agreed for residents living close to Port Otago and Port Nelson.
"Noise should be measured inside the nearest residential houses to keep it to a reasonable level of 40 decibels.
"If the port is not prepared to mitigate, the council cannot force them to pay to insulate homes in the inner zone, but we can encourage them that it would be a good thing to do.
"There are 62 homes in the inner zone, and 420 homes inside the entire port noise boundary. If the port generates noise outside the noise boundaries and wants to avoid getting noise complaints from residents, it should offer to pay to insulate the closest homes that are going to be affected.
"All those insulated homes would not then be under threat from noise problems," Mr Bishop said.
He calculated a cost of $30,000 to soundproof each house, based on costs to insulate homes in Rotorua following complaints from those residents who live close to the airport.
Mr Bishop said that any new houses which were built within the port noise boundary would be insulated at the owner's discretion.
"We may question why people complain about noise when they chose to live next to a port, but the council is stuck in the middle and we have to take the approach on how best to deal with it to find a solution for both parties," he said.
Port of Napier's chief executive Garth Cowie and marketing manager Chris Bain were both out of the country today, and financial controller Gary Smith was unavailable for comment.