Our ref: EN00167
Your ref: Mr Sona Abantu-Choudhury
Mr Abantu-Choudhury
Sent by e-mail to:
request-1138-
[email address]
08 August 2008
Dear Mr Abantu-Choudhury
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
We refer to your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) and/or the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) received by
the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) on 14 July 2008 requesting the following
information:
I would like to have all the data for the noise pollution monitor sited in
Leabank Square, Berkshire Road, Hackney Wick, E9 please.
The monitor is situated on our wharf bank of Leabank Square – and is
checked frequently by your staff.
I would like ALL the data - from the time that it was installed to present.
We confirm that we hold information of the description specified in your
request. We have provided the following information:
Figure 1: Graph representing the noise data from Leabank Square
during the core working hours (Monday to Friday 07.00 to 18.00;
Saturday 07.00 to 14.00) compared to the relevant noise limits
imposed by our planning permission
Figure 2: Graph representing the noise data from Leabank Square
during the extended hours (7pm to 10pm) permitted by our Section 61
prior consent, compared to the Section 61 noise limit of 57decibels
(dB).
With respect to the second graph, you will note that there are apparent
exceedences of the 57dB limit imposed by our Section 61. However, it is
important to note the background noise level in this area was already between
55 and 60dB. We have been working with London Borough of Hackney to
determine the noise levels associated with our soil washing plant and have
installed a new noise monitor adjacent to these operations. Data from this
new location will help to determine the proportion of noise being recorded at
Leabank Square that is emanating from the soil wash facility. Under
regulation 12(4)(d) of the EIR, we are not required to provide you with
information which is still in the course of completion. The information from the
new noise monitoring point mentioned above is still being collected and
collated and as such we are of the opinion that the regulation 12(4)(d) is
evoked by your request. The exemption is a qualified exemption which means
we are required to determine whether the public interest in maintaining the
exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. We
consider that it would be reasonable and appropriate not to disclose this
information before it is collated in to a formal report and that, in all
circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the
public interest in disclosure of the information, at this point in time. The ODA
still requires to review and ratify the information to ensure that stringent quality
assurance measures are met and we believe that to provide the raw data
would either be of little use; alternatively it may result in incorrect
interpretation of the data.
We trust that this information satisfies your request for information. However,
if you are not satisfied with the response to your request and wish to make a
complaint, you should write to The Information Officer, Olympic Delivery
Authority, One Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5LN. Please state
detailed grounds for your complaint.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner will not make a decision unless you have
exhausted the complaint procedure provided by the ODA. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely
Penelope Jarvis
Information Officer
Olympic Delivery Authority
