Sound levels

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34047, 10 January 1976, Page 12

Sound levels

Sir, — It is reported in this morning’s edition that Cr Dodge said "decibel readings at the gate reached 75 — about equivalent to a jet engine by your ear.” How accurate is "about”? Has Cr Dodge received official scales of decibel readings from either the D.S.I.R. or Health Department, or is he once again producing his own misguided definitions? I’m sure the Waimari County Council would not like to see such statements in print, because at present they are pressing for a zoning change around Christchurch Airport. The zone boundaries would be at the 85 decibel line which is approx, one mile from the main runway and glide path. Even the accuracy of these figures has been questioned by one Government Department. — Yours, etc., I. D. KTLDUFF. December 18, 1975. [The chairman of the health and general committee of the Christchurch City Council (Cr Newton Dodge) replies: “Hyperbole is apparently not understood by your correspondent. The comparison with a jet engine was intended to convey some idea of the difficulty experienced in carrying on a normal conversation against the sound level of 75 decibels produced by a rock iband at English Park on DeIce er 14. No reference tc any airport was made or intended.”]