Does the building site across the road sound too loud? It probably is

The banging and clattering was all night and unstinting. Excavators beeped, backhoes rumbled and the sound of clashing metal reverberated from the new Sydney Fish Markets construction site into the bedrooms of sleepless residents across the road.

One set up a makeshift bed on the floor of her bathroom. Another packed up after midnight and drove to her parents’ house. The vibrations ran through their bodies and shifted the furniture.

Gulay Oz, who lives opposite the new Sydney Fish Market, had sleepless nights during the worst part of the construction.Credit: Louise Kennerley

“It was like hell for me,” said resident Gulay Oz, who was recovering from surgery during the worst part of the nightworks. “All I needed was a good night’s sleep, and I just never got it.”

And yet, monthly noise assessments consistently produced the same result: the noise did not exceed the maximum permitted volume.

In the midst of several major infrastructure upgrades, construction in Sydney is literally booming. And the families who live at 84 Wentworth Park Road, Glebe, have learnt the hard way how easily the noise assessment process can be manipulated.

Construction companies and government agencies use external acoustical consultants to set noise limits based on existing ambient noise levels, and monitor the volume once construction begins.

‘[The work] felt like it would never end. It had a pretty big impact on my mental health.’

Local resident Judith Cheng

Acoustical consultants say few people understand the technicalities of noise assessments, so it is possible to set a generous noise limit based on misleading data. Residents then have little recourse to compensatory measures such as double glazing if the volume falls below that level.

Association of Australasian Acoustical Consultants chair Richard Haydon, whose company Acoustic Dynamics worked on behalf of the residents, said most independent acoustical consultants sought to be transparent and accurate, but some might strategically select logging locations that favoured their clients.

“A lot of these matters slip under the radar if they are not reviewed by a competent acoustical expert,” Haydon said.

“The difficulty for some consultants is that they can be perceived to be an advocate for one party or another, rather than ... adopting principles that would be the same no matter which party engaged them.”

Construction workers at work on the site of the new Sydney Fish Market.Credit: Kate Geraghty

The NSW Land and Environment Court commonly considers cases where acoustical consultants are alleged to have placed their noise loggers at places with marginally different background noises to help their clients. In childcare centres, a three-decibel difference in background noise can double the number of children permitted to play in outdoor areas.

The maximum noise limits for the $800 million redevelopment of the Sydney Fish Market were determined after a noise impact assessment by SLR Consulting on behalf of Infrastructure NSW and Multiplex in 2019. It set limits based on the ambient noise levels at locations deemed representative of the catchment.

Several agencies raised concerns during the pre-approval process. The Environmental Protection Authority said several logging locations that SLR had used to determine the ambient background noise were “not ideal”.

Four noise loggers were placed in highly reverberant environments, such as undercover or near a facade, which was likely to raise noise levels at the microphone and result in higher permitted noise.

Sydney Local Health District recommended that baseline noise measurements should be taken from 84 Wentworth Park Road, which was predicted to be the most severely affected site, rather than taking the measurement from a location down the road as representative of the impact on that address.

“Accurate data for the address will increase the accuracy of noise exceedance predictions,” the health district submitted.

The owners’ corporation at 84 Wentworth Park Road commissioned a second noise impact assessment, which found that SLR had conservatively assessed the likely impact on their apartments. Actual measurements taken by their consultant after demolition began in April 2020 confirmed that noise levels exceeded the target.

But SLR chose not to measure noise levels at 84 Wentworth Park Rd, instead relying on data from the pub next door. And the noise from that site fell within the specified limit. SLR did not respond to questions from the Herald.

Resident Judith Cheng said that after two years of intolerable noise, she installed glazing at her own expense.

“They did a lot of the work over the weekends and at night and it felt like it would never end,” Cheng said.

“It had a pretty big impact on my mental health because you can’t explain it, the incessant noise ... It felt like burnout, but I wasn’t necessarily working long hours or in a difficult job.”

After three years of lobbying by residents, Infrastructure NSW (INSW) last year commissioned a separate peer review of the competing consultants’ reports.

It confirmed that the noise at 84 Wentworth Park Road likely exceeded the agreed trigger levels, and found that additional glazing and air ventilation was warranted. The Department of Planning Housing and Infrastructure ordered it to be installed within 12 months of being accepted by the owners.

But INSW has told the department in a letter seen by the Herald that it is too late. “INSW do not believe it is reasonable to be expected to pay over $1 million to mitigate construction noise that is expected to be eliminated in the next 12 months,” project director Greg Lin wrote.

Apartment owner Malcolm Morrison said it appeared that INSW had deliberately delayed its response to the noise issues.

“This is the glazing and ventilation they could have installed four years ago,” Morrison said.

INSW was meant to update the planning secretary on consultations with the residents by June 28. Residents said the only correspondence they had received from INSW was a two-line email advising that they had been directed to offer noise mitigation.

The department said its original assessment of the Sydney Fish Market proposal included a condition that INSW had to consult the residents about acoustic mitigation. INSW had offered to install mechanical ventilation in the apartments before work started, but no agreement was reached.

INSW said it had worked collaboratively with the body corporate at 84 Wentworth Park Rd to resolve its concerns.

“An offer of acoustic treatment to the property has been available for four years,” a spokeswoman said.

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