§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he intends to visit Warden Bay to investigate the complaints by local residents about the noise levels of explosions from the firing range at Shoeburyness. [114508]
§ Dr. MoonieThere are no plans for the Secretary of State for Defence, or indeed any Defence Minister, to visit Warden Bay to investigate the complaints by local residents about the noise levels of explosions from the firing range at Shoeburyness.
My noble Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement is, however, due to discuss this issue shortly with the hon. Member for North Thanet (Mr. Gale).
§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how much notice is given to local residents prior to the commencement of gun explosions at Shoeburyness; [114510]
(2) when the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency last visited Warden Bay to check monitoring levels for gun explosions at Shoeburyness; [114507]
(3) what work of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency at the firing ranges at Shoeburyness has been carried out on behalf of (a) the UK's armed forces only and (b) the armed forces of foreign countries in the last 12 months. [114509]
§ Dr. MoonieThis is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Sir John Chisholm to Mr. Derek Wyatt, dated 22 March 2000:
I am replying to three of your parliamentary questions about activities at the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency range at Shoeburyness.You ask how much notice is given to local residents prior to the commencement of gun explosions at Shoeburyness. A recorded message on a freephone telephone gives details of the firings scheduled for the following working day. The information given includes the type of activity, whether gunfire and/or explosions and the start time and the expected finish time. Additional information will be given if, for example, an activity is planned to take place outside normal working hours or it is expected to be particularly noisy. That said, the noise levels of activities undertaken at Shoeburyness are, for the most part, comfortably within the Ministry of Defence's guideline limit. We also endeavour to place notice of the out of hours and noisier activities in the local press and/or broadcast details on local radio. The timing of a press announcement will depend very much on the day of publication of the newspaper but could be up to a week in advance of the actual activity.563WThe closest monitor to Warden Bay is located at Sheerness Docks. All monitors are covered by an on-call maintenance contract which provides maintenance and repair cover for any failed monitor. Staff in the range operations office check the operation of all monitors on a daily basis and also hold records of the noise levels detected.The majority of work carried out at Shoeburyness has been on behalf of UK's armed forces. In the course of the last 12 months, a very small amount of work has been undertaken for non-UK customers, but only with the support of the relevant MOD authorities. These activities did not generate any noise complaints.I hope the above explains the situation.