HC Deb 01 July 1993 vol 227 cc571-2W
Mr. Pike

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations his Department has received on noise abatement zones; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Yeo

I have received no recent representations, apart from those from the hon. Member.

The report of the Noise Review Working Pary 1990, copies of which are in the Library, found that the application of NAZs was limited by their complexity and the demands on local authority resources. Subsequent research by the Building Research Establishment considered this further and demonstrated that the principal problems are the complexity of the regulations for setting up NAZs and the intensive use of manpower in monitoring the statutorily required noise level registers. My Department is considering these findings.