Instrulabs Pty. Ltd.

Environmental Noise Assessment for

Proposed Licensed Music Venue at
Medina Tavern – 23 Pace Road
Medina WA 6167

Prepared by: Leon Fry Service Manager, Noise Officer

Instrulabs Pty. Ltd.

ACCREDITATION NUMBER 1943 - Since 1985

Accredited for compliance with ISO 17025:2005
19 Argyle Street, Bentley, WA. 6102
Mail to : PO. Box 1211, EAST VICTORIA PARK, WA. 6981
Ph: + 61 8 9356 7999 Fax: + 61 8 9356 9444
email: i n f o @ i n st r u - l ab s. co m . a u web : w w w . i nst r u - l ab s . co m . au
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 Environmental Noise Assessment for Proposed
Licensed Music Venue at Medina Tavern
23 Pace Road, Medina WA 6167

Introduction :
Instrulabs has been retained by the owners of the Medina Tavern to conduct a noise
assessment for a proposed licensed music venue at 23 Pace Road, Medina WA 6167. The
tavern owners propose to hold live music events in a purpose built music hall with bar that
is part of the existing premises. The venue owners have stated that live music
performances will occur on various Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings
between the times of 7:00pm until 11:00pm. The purpose of this noise assessment report
is to determine noise levels at Medina Tavern and their impact, if any, at surrounding noise
sensitive premises with reference to the Environmental Protection (Noise) Regulation 1997

The Assigned Noise Levels :

Figures 1 and 2 are the site plans including two circles with 100m and 450m radius of the
proposed licensed music venue at 23 Pace Road, Medina. Three noise sensitive premises
are marked in Figure 2 using yellow circles. They are respectively 2 Harley Way (100m
from the venue), 113 Medina Ave (120m from the venue) and 20 Barwell Road (150m from
the venue).

Figure 1 A satellite image including a 100m radius circle centered at the proposed licensed
music venue at 23 Pace Road, Medina.
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Figure 2 Site plan and zoning map including two circles with 100m and 450m radius of the
proposed licensed music venue at 23 Pace Road, Medina.

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The assigned level to be complied with at the nearest noise sensitive premise (2 Harley
Way) by the proposed licensed music venue is calculated based on the Environmental
Protection (Noise) Regulation 1997. The details of the calculation are as follows:

Step 1: Industrial Zones

0% in the 100m circle
0% in the 450m circle
I = (0+0)/10 = 0

Step 2: Commercial Zones

20% in the 100m circle
5% in the 450m circle
C = (20+5)/20 = 1.25

Step 3: Traffic Factor

Major roads in 100m circle = 0
Major roads in 450m circle = 0
Traffic Factor = 0

Step 4: Influencing Factor

IF = (I +C+TF) = (0+1.25+0) = 1.25
So our Influencing Factor is 1dB.

Step 5: Assigned Levels, including Influencing Factor

Thus, the assigned levels are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Assigned noise levels

Part of premises Time of day Assigned level (dB)

receiving noise LA10 LA1 LA max
Locations within 0700 to 1900 hours
15metres of a Monday to Saturday 46dB 56dB 66dB
0900 to 1900 hours
building directly Sunday and public
associated with a holidays 41dB 51dB 66dB
noise sensitive 1900 to 2200 hours
use all days 41dB 51dB 56dB
2200 hours on any
day to 0700 hours
Monday to Saturday
and 0900 hours
Sunday and public
holidays 36dB 46dB 56dB

Discernible Noise Sources :

Noise sources are (1) traffic noise from car park and surrounding minor residential roads;
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(2) noise from the commercial area inside the circles; (3) noise from the commercial area
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inside the circles; (4) Music from 23 Pace Road played on 9/02/2010 was discernible at
the Pace Road frontage of the venue. At the closest noise sensitive premises (113 Medina
Ave and 20 Barwell Road), the music was barely audible at the boundary of the noise
sensitive premises.

Noise Assessments :

1 : Ambient noise levels at and around 23 Pace Road

Ambient noise measurements were taken on two different dates, in the morning, and at
night at various locations around 23 Pace Road to determine the existing noise levels in
the area. The proposed licensed music venue was not open at the times the ambient
measurements were taken thus all the ambient noise measured was due to other sources
such as vehicles, birds (notably crows), and noise associated with surrounding commercial
and residential premises. From our measurements (see Table 2) we found that from
07:00am – 07:00pm Monday to Saturday the assigned LA10 noise level is on average 9dB
lower than the practical background noise level in this area. From our measurements we
found that from 10:00pm – 07:00am Monday to Saturday the assigned LA10 noise level is
on average 7dB lower than the practical background noise level in this area.

Table 2: Ambient Noise Levels

Friday 29/01/2010 Monday

Measurement Locations (Ambient) 01/02/2010
(Ambient)
2200 hours on any day
0700 to 1900 hours to 0700 hours Monday
Monday to Saturday to Saturday and 0900
hours Sunday and public
holidays
LA1 LA10 LAMax LA1 LA10 LAMax
Front of 2 Harley Way (residence nearest to venue) 65dB 56dB 66dB 46dB 39dB 53dB
Front of 20 Barwell Road 70dB 62dB 73dB 50dB 44dB 56dB
Rear of 113 Medina Avenue 63dB 54dB 65dB 57dB 53dB 59dB

2 : Maximum noise generation capacity and measurement locations

The maximum noise generation capacity was measured on Monday 08/02/2010 from
7:00am onwards. A jukebox was used to generate music noise up to the noise level that
the owners of Pace Tavern, 23 Pace Road regarded as the maximum level for future
operation. Measurements were also taken at various locations surrounding the venue
including the nearest noise sensitive premises. Details of the measurement locations are
shown in Figure 3. 5
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 Brick wall
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2.4m
N
Steel gate
2.5x2.2
120m to
113 Medina Ave 5 3&4
7 Windows
2

Store & toilets

Jukebox

150m to
20 Barwell Road
Bar

6 Bottle Shop

Figure 3 Site plan of 23 Pace Road, Medina and measurement locations

3 : Noise measurement results

Table 3 summarizes the measured noise level at 9 locations. The results indicate that:
(1) The noise level of the music at 2m from the source should not exceed 93dBA;
(2) Windows and glass door provided 17 dB noise attenuation;
(3) Main noise emission from the venue is from the areas near the steel door;
(4) Noise levels near 113 Medina Ave and 20 Barwell Rd are mixed with significant
amount of background noise.

Noise level near 2 Harley Way was assessed with specific attention as it is the nearest
premise from the venue. The resident at 2 Harley way stated that the main noises he
hears at night are from private functions at the adjacent Medina Hall, and the drag races at
the Quit Motorplex. A close examination of the location of this premise with respect to the
venue (see Figure 2) shows that it is in the shadow zone of Medina Hall and away from the
sound radiation direction of the major noise radiation area (the steel gate). As a result of
those observations, modeling of noise propagation from the venue is focused on that to
113 Medina Ave and 20 Barwell Rd.
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Table 3: Measured noise level when jukebox was on.

Measurement Locations LAeq (dBA)

1. 2m from Jukebox 93
2. SW corner (10m from Jukebox) 92
3. Outside SV corner (glass door closed) 75
4. Outside SV corner (glass door open) 80
5. Inside steel door (glass door closed) 68
6. Doorway of bottle shop 70 (lot of background noise)
7. Outside steel door (glass door closed) 60 (very clear music noise)
8. Rear of 113 Medina Ave 55
9. Front of 20 Barwell Rd 47

Prediction of Noise Emission from 23 Pace Road :

As the background noise level at 113 Medina Ave and 20 Barwell Rd is already high, the
actual effect of noise emission from the venue on the noise level at those premises
requires a noise prediction.

The key area of music noise emission from 23 Pace Road is due to the noise transmission
through the steel gate and propagation directly from the open area above the gate. The
total area of the steel gate is 5.5m 2 and the effective opening area above the gate is 2.2m2

The measured noise levels at locations 5 and 7 of Table 3 are used to calculate the sound
power from the two areas. Then the sound radiations from these two areas are modeled
by two spherical sources located at different locations. The measured sound powers are
converted into source strength for prediction. Reflection of noise from the ground is also
taken into account in the modeling. Noise reflection from other buildings is ignored as they
are too far from the noise sources. Noise radiation from the entrance door to the bottle
shop is also ignored because the music noise at location 6 was just audible and much
lower than that from the steel gate.

The predicted noise levels at the noise sensitive premises are listed in Table 4. In
summary,
(1) The noise level at 113 Medina Ave due to the music noise from the venue is 38dBA,
and 2dB above the assigned level.
(2) The noise level at 20 Barwell Rd due to the music noise from the venue is 37dBA
and 1dB above the assigned level.

Table 4: Predicted noise level when jukebox was on.

Locations Predicted LAeq (dBA)

Rear of 113 Medina Ave 38 (2 dB above the assigned level)
Front of 20 Barwell Rd 37 (1 dB above the assigned level)

Table 2 suggests that the effect of background noise level was so high that it suppressed
the tonal and modulation properties of the music signal. However, in the case of the
background noise become lower, 5dB penalty may still apply. As a result, although the
predicted noise levels from the venue are very close to the assigned level, further noise
reduction of 3 to 7 dB is recommended.
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Recommended Noise Control :
(1) If all the large plate glass windows behind the stage are covered by heavy noise
attenuating curtains, a noise reduction of 3 dB may be achieved;
(2) As the steel gate and the opening area above the gate provide the major leakage of
noise from the venue, it is recommended to make the steel door acoustically sealed
and the opening area above the door covered with a noise barrier. A further noise
reduction of 3-4 dB is expected if these measures of noise control are implemented;
(3) It is recommended that all the doors leading to the store room and toilet, and to the
steel gate are kept shut during the time of music performance;
(4) The owners also need make sure that the maximum noise level at 2m away from
the sources is not greater than 92dBA.

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