Monday, January 12, 2009

We like it quiet

When the Metro disco was in operation it caused a lot of problems with noise pollution during the summer months. You didn't hear the music but the bass rhythm would thump thump thump until the early hours of the morning. Obviously the nearer you lived to the club, the worse it would be and if the wind was in the wrong direction, the sound would carry.

We always wonder how the people who live in flats in the centre of the town cope with the noise particularly at fiesta time when there are nearly two weeks of late night discos to contend with. Pam and I have always been fortunate (or very choosy) in finding places to live that are quiet. Our road here at Villas Andrea has to be the quietest one we have ever lived on.

Now we have the answer to our question. In a recent study by the Valencian Institute of Estadística (IVE) it was found that excess noise was one of the main problems for people living in rented accomodation in the Alicante province. In the survey, 32.5% of renters in the province (more than 415,000) complained of excess noise from traffic, from work going on in the street and from pubs.

The other major areas of complaint were; lack of street cleaning (30.7% almost 400,000); delinquency in the area (25.6% -328,000 homes) and general rubbish e.g. graffiti (21% - 268.000).

In the study, those that live next to the A-31 Autopista (Villena-Alicante) and the N-332 coast road suffered most from excess noise with levels of above the 55 decibels limit determined by the Worldwide Health Organisation as being acceptable. Worst off were municipalities where housing has been built right next to major roads e.g. Alicante, Monforte del Cid, Petrer, Orihuela, Torrevieja and Villena. I don't know how people in those houses ever get any peace

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