Speech by Jonathan Shaw MP at the Quiet Conference, London - 29 April 2008
Good Afternoon everyone. It’s a very great pleasure indeed to be able to come here today and say a few words to you.
I would like to begin - if I may - by congratulating many of you in this room for all the work you are doing in promoting the health, social, and environmental benefits of quiet areas.
Your work is even more remarkable when you realise that there is in fact no national, European or even internationally agreed definition of exactly what a quiet area is. That I think can be viewed as both a blessing and a curse.
We here in Defra are keen to see some sort of clarity brought to bear in this area. That’s why we commissioned our own research into this topic. This raised the proposal to define quiet areas as places which have a minimum of nine hectares and noise levels less than fifty five decibels during the daytime over half their area. We’re currently considering how this could work as a guideline; but we’re keen to provide as much flexibility as possible at a local level.
It’s good to hear that City of Birmingham Council officials – who incidentally are represented here today – also taking up this challenge. They are currently working on an adaptation of our definition to suit their circumstances in their local area.
They and many more of you in the audience today are working in this field against a very challenging set of circumstances. Which I think it’s fair to say will be become even more challenging as modern life becomes increasingly noisy.
There now are very few areas in everyday situations where people can take some time out and enjoy a bit of peace and tranquility.
To have that space, that opportunity for reflection and calm can really benefit a person’s quality of life.
And you don’t have to look far to find quiet spaces. Even in this part of the capital. Just next door there’s the Museum of Garden History which provides visitors with an perfect opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of London.
It’s real life examples like this that allow us to illustrate not only the physical, psychological and spiritual importance of quiet and tranquil areas but also the regenerative effects areas like this can have.
I am very interested in the work being carried out at the moment on the issue of tranquility. In the first Rural White Paper we looked at measuring changes in the quality of our countryside. Part of that work involved developing a tranquility indicator. This proved a difficult concept to quantify.
But I am encouraged to see that the work from the Campaign to Protect Rural England and their National Tranquility Mapping Project are making strides in developing a robust approach to this issue. I understand it is a marked improvement over earlier approaches and will help Natural England in its landscape change work.
I think a project like this will prove useful in the planning process in both rural and urban environments. It’s also important to note that any approach using this methodology must be discretionary rather being used as part of an explicit statutory duty. A one size fits all approach wouldn’t help local authorities who are far better placed to understand the local nuances of each application. As well as undermining their ability to deliver an integrated approach to sustainable development.
The impact of any proposal on tranquillity can already be treated as a material consideration in decisions made by planning authorities. But any inappropriate adoption of a tranquillity indicator to prevent new development and activities must be looked at very carefully.
It is very important that the issue of tranquillity or quiet areas must always be considered in the context of our living in a sustainable manner. Applications for capital projects like, housing estates, business parks or transport infrastructure might all prove targets for those who wish to preserve tranquillity above everything else despite a vital need for appropriate development. People in society need to continue to lead productive lives. And the economy needs to continue to grow.
So a balance needs to be struck. That’s why we are keen to see the action plans develop under the Environmental Noise Directive.
Here the aim is to provide a high level of health and environmental protection against noise whilst at the same not hindering economic development. The Directive and Regulations will provide a 5 yearly cycle of noise mapping and action planning and covers road, rail and air transport as well as industry in large urban areas.
All the mapping has now been completed. And we hope that the data that’s been collected will be put on a website after the local elections. This will allow everyone to search the maps down to postcode level to give an indication of the noise level in their own neighbourhood. It’s been one of the biggest IT projects in the world and covers 80,000 kilometres of urban roads and 28,000 kilometres on the major road network.
So as you can see a great deal of work has gone on in the background to address the issues many of you feel passionately about.
None more so than the people involved in the Bedford Prison quiet garden. I know you had aa presentation from them this morning on the work they have done in this area and the difference it has made to many of their inmates.
So hearty congratulations to them and everyone else who are working hard to make a difference in this very interesting and challenging area.
I’m sure these projects and many others will contribute to improving people’s health and quality of life.
I think it was the famous English philosopher Bertrand Russell who once said – A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life – it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live.
Sounds good to me.
Thank you
Page published: 1 May 2008