Noise experts at day one of an Environment Court hearing for a Wanaka amusement park were quizzed about the impact of go-kart engine noise on the surrounding environment yesterday.
The Young Family Trust's proposal for a commercial entertainment facility with go-karts,bumper boats, tenpin bowling and a cafe opposite the Wanaka Airport on the corner of State Highway 6 and Mt Barker Rd gained consent in 2010.
However, noise concerns, among other things, prompted appeals to the Environment Court by Mt Barker Rd landowners the Staufenberg Family Trust and Jeffrey and Margaret Feint.
Environmental noise expert Malcolm Hunt had earlier submitted evidence the noise effects of the amusement park would be "no more than minor" and the subject site, while rural in nature, was not sensitive to activity noise compared with other more remote rurally zoned land in the district. This was because of existing noise from State Highway 6, the airport and the Have a Shot entertainment facility.
In cross-examining Mr Hunt, the Feints' counsel Karen Feint said with the exception of SH6, the commercial and tourist activities near the subject site did not generate noise after 6pm, while the amusement park would operate until 8pm.
"Do you accept that after 6pm the character of the receiving environment is different?" Ms Feint asked.
Because traffic flows on SH6 gradually decreased later in the day, there was a "continuum of sensitivity" which was least sensitive during the middle of the day and most sensitive during the middle of the night, Mr Hunt responded. He conceded the go-kart noise would be audible but "only under certain circumstances and at certain places".
He had given "no assurances of inaudibility to any receiver site" he had assessed, as other factors like "wind and meteorological conditions" could play a part.
Mr Hunt said based on his assessments, the go-karts which would be used at the amusement park, powered by a 4-stroke engine with additional exhaust treatment, were "extremely quiet" and different from noise generated by competitive racing go-karts.
"I would say if you're across the road you would struggle to hear them and the sound that you do hear, it's a very muffled sound from the exhaust. It's not readily detectable."
Acoustics engineer Dr Stephen Chiles, who conducted a peer review of Mr Hunt's report, was questioned by Environment Court Judge Jon Jackson about the go-kart noise.
"For a reasonable person, could it get to the stage where it could be distracting?" Judge Jackson asked.
"Not for a reasonable person, no," Dr Chiles responded.
The hearing continues at Edgewater Resort in Wanaka today.
