Policy paper

Noise action plans: large urban areas, roads and railways (2019)

Noise action plans (Round 3) for agglomerations (large urban areas), roads (including major roads) and railways (including major railways).

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

Documents

Noise action plan for railways

Noise action plan for roads

Details

Noise action plans provide a framework to manage environmental noise and its effects. They also aim to protect quiet areas in agglomerations (large urban areas) where the noise quality is good.

The Environmental Noise Directive covers noise from roads, rail, aviation and industry. It requires Member States to carry out noise mapping of environmental noise sources every 5 years. These maps are used to produce noise action plans. The first noise maps were completed in 2007 and updated in 2012. The third round of noise mapping was completed during 2017.

The updated action plans take into account the 2017 noise mapping and views from the consultation held in 2018.

You can also read the first action plans and round 2 action plans.

Updates to this page

Published 2 July 2019
Last updated 21 December 2022 + show all updates
  1. Added a link to the noise information survey. Defra wants to improve the way it tells you about noise levels where you live. Take part in the survey to tell them what information on noise you need. The survey is anonymous and voluntary. It should take 5 to 10 minutes to complete.

  2. First published.

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