5.	Noise from sports and leisure facilities

Sports and leisure facilities (fig. 5/1 and fig. 5/2) often involve high noise emissions. Typical examples of leisure facilities are fairgrounds, open-air theatres, pleasure grounds, adventure playgrounds, soccer grounds and skate parks. Examples of sports facilities are soccer fields, tennis courts, outdoor pools, shooting ranges and sports stadiums.

Motor sports facilities and model flying fields also belong to sports and leisure facilities.

§ 22 sentence 1a of the Federal Immission Control Act determines that noises from day-care centres, playgrounds and similar facilities, like ball game fields, caused by children are generally not considered as harmful effects on the environment. When these noises are assessed, immission limit and guide values must not be used.

As these facilities mostly represent area sound sources, in contrast to roads, which are line sound sources, efficient noise abatement is harder to realize.

Noise emissions are produced by technical equipment and machines (e.g. loudspeaker and motorbikes), by users and spectators (e.g. cheering, shouts of goal, cheers of encouragement) and by sports club restaurants and car parks belonging to the facility.

Noises from sports and leisure facilities are often the reason for conflicts between neighbours. The need for rest from one part of the population is opposed to the desire to use adjacent sports and leisure facilities from other parts of the population. Especially leisure facilities for teenagers, like soccer grounds or skate parks, are deliberately situated within walking distance to the nearest residential use.

Characteristic features of noises from sports and leisure facilities are for example frequent level variations (impulsive noises) or the use of loudspeakers. This is what distinguishes them from for example industrial noises. They therefore require a separate assessment which considers the characteristic features of the noises with additions to the average sound level. Similar to commercial noise, so-called passive noise abatement measures (e.g. soundproof windows) are not regarded as an efficient means, however, as it is the sound level in front of the opened window of a room requiring protection which is relevant. Exterior living areas (e.g. balconies, terraces) also have the right to sufficient noise abatement, at least during the day.