Federated Farmers Submission for Rotorua District Plan - Plan Change 4 Noise
The stated purpose of Plan Change 4 is to streamline the approach to noise in the Rotorua district by centralising noise provisions in a new dedicated noise chapter. The Plan Change states that it contains “fairly innocuous changes”. However this is not how we viewed the Plan Change.
The proposed Plan Change did not carry over the strong provisions to protect farmers against reverse sensitivity which was in the operational district plan and in parts even seem to supported reverse sensitivity. Reverse Sensitivity describes the impact of noise from existing activities on a newcomer to the area which is sensitive to the existing noise. It probably can be best explained with the current trend to move to live in the countryside as a lifestyle change. It is often accompanied with romantic visions of pastoral landscapes that do not take into account the reality of a working rural environment and can lead to complaints about noise.
We submitted that expectations of blissful quiet idylls in the countryside is unrealistic. We asked that agriculture activities be protected from reverse sensitivity by:
- Making normal primary or agriculture production activities exempt from noise standards in rural zones;
- By putting the onus on any residence or residential areas near to rural zones to avoid or mitigate their own sensitivity to noise.
For more, see the full submission