The Mayor's Ambient Noise Strategy - Greater London Authority

54 Mayor of London
The Mayor’s Ambient Noise Strategy
Box 18: Policies and Proposals
In the following chapters:
■
■
a policy is a statement of the Mayor’s position on an issue, or a
general course of action, not limited as to time.
a proposal is a more specific statement of action or intent, where
possible with a timescale for delivery.
The Implementation Framework in Appendix A1 sets out key
responsibities against each proposal.
Principal mechanisms for delivering noise reduction
4.4 Effective noise reduction needs active co-operation between central,
regional and local government, and between different specialist agencies,
as well as business and communities, within a supportive international
framework, particularly where issues of technology development and
competiveness are involved. Action is needed at many levels:
■
■
■
■
■
Strategy - agreeing future directions, indicating choices and
use of resources;
Regulation - not just emission limits for vehicle and equipment,
but traffic management, environmental health, town planning and
other regulation;
Enforcement - where competing demands on scarce resources are
especially acute in London;
Incentives - both economic and non-economic; and
Investment - getting the most from existing spending (e.g. on
infrastructure, equipment and staff) and making the case for London’s
special needs.
4.5 It is important that the national noise strategy process includes detailed
study of the relative cost-effectiveness of different measures in different
contexts. The evidence base needs to be improved to enable priorities to
be established on a clear foundation. The Mayor is keen to contribute to
the Government’s process of preparing a national ambient noise strategy.
Trials should cover the range of measures referred to in this strategy, and
results should be widely shared. Trials should aim to identify the typical
costs and implications of attaining standard and guideline levels 1 , and of
increments of improvement which are themselves worthwhile.
4.6 The Mayor, Transport for London and, to a lesser extent, the other
functional bodies (see glossary) have scope for practical action. However,
available resources are very limited in relation to competing needs. New
or modified instruments, and more staff and investment will be