November 2004 (PDF 11.6 MB) - Barrick Gold Corporation

egory for the amenity criteria will be straightforward,but in some localities, land-use patterns orzones may be ambiguous in terms of selecting theappropriate receiver type. As a guide the followingissues may be considered in deciding the land usecategory for a receiver:• The primary means for identifying the type ofreceiver is how the receiver area is zoned inthe relevant planning instrument. Thestandard terminology used in planninginstruments is usually limited to rural, ruralresidentialand residential in respect of areaswhere dwellings would normally be located.These terms do not differentiate suburbanand urban residential uses, and this isdiscussed in the next point.• In deciding whether a receiver area should beallocated to the suburban or urban categories,it may be necessary to examine thepredominant manner of development in thearea and the prevailing noise climate. Thedefinitions of suburban and urban provideguidance on this. For example, smallcommunities such as villages or towns arelikely to be closer in noise climate to asuburban category. Urban receivers areusually those located in densely populatedareas where multi-dwelling developmentssuch as townhouses, units, flats andapartments are the norm. Areas near noisegenerators (for example, roads, railways andindustry) would normally be considered to beurban-receiver type for the purpose of theamenity criteria. The rural category is morerepresentative of more isolated singledwellings on large lots (for example, 2hectares). The population density for an areamay provide a guide as to which of theresidential receiver categories apply.• In certain instances zoning for an area willallow multiple uses. For instance, some areasare classified as ‘Rural’ with industry-relatedland uses permissible, thus allowing ruraluses (including a dwelling) and industries inthe same area. In terms of noise thepermissible uses may not be entirelycompatible, and where this mix ofdevelopment is permitted it may not alwaysbe possible to achieve the desirable noisecriteria for receivers. In these instances thenoise levels that are achievable will bedefined by applying all feasible andreasonable mitigation measures. It is highlyrecommended that the relevant consentauthority consider the need to incorporatenoise mitigation measures in noise-sensitivedevelopments where such mixeddevelopment is permitted (for example, newresidences proposed near industrial orcommercial areas).• Other features of a locality that should alsobe considered include:—predominant land use, including theproportion of the different land useswithin the potentially noise-affected zone—strategic planning objectives or plans torezone (for example, as included in REPs,SEPs, Urban Development Program)—proximity of land-use to neighbouringindustries and busy roads—any permanent existing shielding providedby natural topography or otherwisebetween existing noise sources and sensitivereceivers—existing ambient noise levels in the area.2.2.3 Assessment in areas of high trafficnoiseThe level of transportation noise—road traffic noisein particular—may be high enough to make noisefrom an industrial source effectively inaudible, eventhough the L Aeqnoise level from that industrialnoise source may exceed the recommended acceptablenoise level shown in Table 2.1. In such cases,the amenity criterion for noise from the industrialnoise becomes the L Aeq, period(traffic)minus 10 dB. Thiscriterion replaces the amenity criterion in Tables 2.1and 2.2 above, and is used in the same way theamenity criterion is used, that is, in conjunctionwith the intrusiveness criterion, to determine thelimiting criterion. General and more specific casestudies showing how the high traffic criterionworks are included in Appendix A. (See Section A1and case study (c) in Section A2.)This criterion may be applied only if all the followingapply:1. Traffic noise is identified as the dominantnoise source at the site.NSW industrial noise policy19