# Community Advisory Panel on Neighbourhood Noise holds inaugural meeting

- **Source:** Ministry of National Development
- **Published:** 2022-04-29T11:00:00.000Z
- **Author:** Ministry of National Development
- **Original:** https://www.mnd.gov.sg/newsroom/press-releases/view/community-advisory-panel-on-neighbourhood-noise-holds-inaugural-meeting
- **Topics:** Commercial & Industrial, Government & Policy

## Featured rationale

Common noise benchmarks could improve dispute mediation and residential liveability, potentially influencing occupants’ perceptions and decisions in higher-density estates and developments with shared spaces.

## AI summary

A nine-member Community Advisory Panel convened on 29 April 2022 to develop neighbourhood-noise norms, with recommendations due to MND and MCCY by end-2022.

## Original article

The Municipal Services Office (MSO) and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) convened a Community Advisory Panel (CAP) on Neighbourhood Noise on 29 Apr 2022. The CAP will be developing a set of community norms to address the issue of noise disturbance faced by residents, in particular noise from neighbours and noise from groups gathering in common areas.

2 Senior Minister of State for National Development, Ms Sim Ann, first announced plans to convene the CAP at MND’s Committee of Supply debate in March 2022. There has been an increasing number of feedback cases related to neighbourhood noise since 2020, likely due to more residents spending more time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CAP is part of an integrated response to the issue of neighbourhood noise, and looks at shaping positive community norms to mitigate neighbourhood noise disturbances.

3 These norms developed by the CAP should reflect a shared understanding within our community, on what constitutes reasonable or unreasonable disturbances and what good neighbourly behaviour to reduce noise disturbances on our neighbours is. These norms can help facilitate dialogue and discussion among neighbours with differences in views over noise issues. They will also serve as a useful benchmark and common reference for public advisories, when facilitating mediation and decision-making at the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal.

4 Chaired by Dr William Wan, General Secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement, the CAP comprises 9 representatives from the social, academia and people sectors. These members have experience and expertise in managing municipal issues, advocating positive social norms, mediating disputes as well as in acoustic engineering (refer to Annex A for the full list of CAP members).

5 The CAP, which will be established from April 2022, will fulfil the following objectives:

a. establish a set of norms on acceptable or unacceptable noise levels when living in a community; and

b. propose a set of community norms on noise management to foster harmonious living, i.e. good habits for neighbours to show consideration for one another and reduce noise disturbances. 

6 To ensure that the voices from the community are heard, MSO and MCCY will work with the CAP to organise public consultation sessions from June 2022. MSO will also undertake research to draw relevant best practices from overseas. Findings from both the research and public engagements will be used to guide the recommendations of the Panel. The Panel is expected to submit their recommendations to MND and MCCY by the end of 2022. More details on the scope of CAP’s work can be found on https://www.mnd.gov.sg/mso/initiatives/community-advisory-panel.

7 “Disputes among neighbours over noise do strain our social cohesion. Yet, what constitutes unacceptable noise is subjective as different people have different levels of tolerance. The Panel seeks to engage a wide segment of the public in a conversation about how we deal with noise disturbances in the community. The Panel also aims to foster a stronger consensus on how we can accommodate and live harmoniously with one another, and be kinder and more considerate to one another,” said Dr William Wan, Chairperson of the Community Advisory Panel on Neighbourhood Noise.

8 Senior Minister of State for National Development, Ms Sim Ann, said, “The pandemic has changed many things in our society, and one of them could well be our tolerance for noise. I hope the Panel can help us arrive at reasonable community expectations and obligations when it comes to maintaining peace and quiet in our neighbourhoods.”

## Chinese translation

> Translation model: grok_cli

### 邻里噪音社区咨询小组召开首次会议

市政服务署（MSO）与文化、社区及青年部（MCCY）于2022年4月29日召开邻里噪音社区咨询小组（CAP）会议。该小组将制定一套社区规范，以应对居民所面临的噪音干扰问题，尤其是来自邻居的噪音，以及在公共区域聚集群体所产生的噪音。

2 国家发展部高级政务部长沈颖女士于2022年3月国家发展部拨款委员会辩论中，首次宣布计划成立该社区咨询小组。自2020年以来，与邻里噪音相关的反馈个案有所增加，很可能是因为更多居民在冠病疫情期间花更多时间在家。该小组是应对邻里噪音问题综合措施的一部分，着眼于塑造积极的社区规范，以减轻邻里噪音干扰。

3 由社区咨询小组制定的这些规范，应体现社区对何为合理或不合理干扰、以及何种良好邻里行为有助于减少对邻居噪音干扰的共同理解。这些规范可协助对噪音问题持不同看法的邻居开展对话与讨论。它们也将成为公共劝导的有用基准与共同参照，并在社区纠纷调解庭进行调解与决策时提供参考。

4 小组由新加坡亲切运动总会秘书长温长明博士（Dr William Wan）担任主席，由来自社会、学术与民间领域的9名代表组成。这些成员在处理市政问题、倡导积极社会规范、调解纠纷以及声学工程方面具备经验与专长（完整成员名单见附件A）。

5 该小组自2022年4月起设立，将履行以下目标：

a. 确立一套关于在社区生活中可接受或不可接受噪音水平的规范；以及

b. 提出一套关于噪音管理的社区规范，以促进和谐共处，即邻居之间互相体谅、减少噪音干扰的良好习惯。

6 为确保社区声音得到倾听，市政服务署与文化、社区及青年部将与社区咨询小组合作，自2022年6月起举办公众咨询活动。市政服务署亦将开展研究，汲取海外相关最佳做法。研究与公众参与的成果将用于指导小组的建议。小组预计于2022年底前提交建议予国家发展部与文化、社区及青年部。有关社区咨询小组工作范围的更多详情，可浏览https://www.mnd.gov.sg/mso/initiatives/community-advisory-panel。

7 “邻里之间因噪音产生的纠纷确实会削弱我们的社会凝聚力。然而，何为不可接受的噪音具有主观性，因为不同人对噪音的容忍程度不同。小组旨在广泛接触各界公众，就我们如何应对社区中的噪音干扰展开对话。小组也希望就我们如何彼此包容、和谐共处，以及如何对彼此更亲切、更体谅，凝聚更强共识，”邻里噪音社区咨询小组主席温长明博士说。

8 国家发展部高级政务部长沈颖女士表示：“疫情改变了我们社会的许多方面，其中之一很可能就是我们对噪音的容忍度。我希望小组能协助我们就维持邻里安宁与安静，达致合理的社区期望与义务。”