§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made to the effect on householders of increasing traffic noise from existing roads; whether he has any plans to make such households eligible for the noise insulation grants available to residents affected by new road development, using the same noise level criteria; and whether he will evaluate the likely cost of such a measure.
§ Mr. AtkinsNo general assessment has been made of the effect on householders of changes in traffic noise from existing roads. This is bound to vary substantially from case to case. In some cases, the building of new roads will reduce substantially the noise from existing ones.
The Land Compensation Act 1973 makes provision for noise insulation only in the case of new or substantially improved roads. It is not accordingly open to the Department under the law as it stands to make noise insulation available more widely. The cost of making insulation available in relation to all existing roads was estimated in 1983 at £1,840 million for some 2.3 million properties.