Introduction

We have produced this document for football events held at Heaton Stannington Football Club, Grounsell Park, Newton Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7HP.

As a football club, we understand that we have a responsibility to ensure that our premises do not generate excessive noise disturbances.

The purpose of this plan is to detail our policies and procedures to ensure as far as is reasonably practicable, we minimise noise disturbance and ensure any noise that is generated from the football ground is not excessive in the context of the activity taking place.

A balance of needs must be achieved by ensuring that social activity is not marred whilst controlling potential adverse noise effects. We will adopt a series of policies and procedures aimed at maintaining a fair and reasonable balance.

The key elements of this plan are:

• Event timings
• Notices of expectation of noise from match day activities which are considered reasonable in the context of the activity taking place
• Identification of the range of potential noise sources and any mitigating and monitoring actions we will put in place
• Our neighbours notification process
• Contact information for complaints

We have proactively sought feedback from Newcastle City Council Environmental Health department to understand what noise could be excessive and will use the guidance received to action this Plan. This Plan is also subject to review by them.

Event Timings

The football season runs from 1^st July until the first Saturday of May.

We play 21 home league fixtures per season, plus potential cup fixtures. Our standard playing days/times are as follows:

Activity Timing	Saturdays/Bank Holidays	Midweek Evenings (Wednesdays or Fridays)
Gates open	13:30	18:00
Pre match music starts	14:00	18:15
Pre match music stops	15:00	19:45
First half starts	15:00	19:45
First half ends	15:45	20:30
Half time music starts	15:45	20:30
Half time music ends	16:00	20:45
Second half starts	16:00	20:45
Second half ends	16:45	21:30
Post match music ends	17:00	21:45

The timings above are an approximation but may vary within a tolerance of 10 minutes either way.

There may be occasions where match days and times are varied from the above standard pattern. On these occasions, we will issue a Neighbour Notification (see below section of this Plan).

Noise Expectations

Heaton Stannington FC currently operate at Step 4 of the National League System, which is Level 8 of the football pyramid.

At the present time, we maintain an average crowd of 350-400 spectators for fixtures. The attendance figures vary heavily based on a number of factors such as time of year, weather, clashes with other local events and opposition.

Noise that will come from the football ground on a match day is varied but appropriate in the context of a football fixture. Neighbouring premises can expect to the hear the following types of noise:

• General crowd noise – shouting, cheering, singing, goal celebrations, drumming, banging
• Music – music being played from speakers which are mounted to the Clubhouse structures, limited to a period pre-match, at half time and briefly post match for a few minutes. No music is played whilst the match is in progress.
• Announcements – we may use our PA system to make announcements such as goal scorers but also informational announcements for spectators or on rare occasions safety/emergency announcements.
• Where we use the PA system to play music or make announcements, we ensure the volume level is appropriate to not cause excessive disturbance to surrounding properties. The later section in this Plan explains how we judge this.
• When we need to make a safety or emergency announcement, we reserve the right to use full volume available in our PA system to ensure all spectators are able to hear in all areas of the ground. This is a mandatory FA requirement on our Club.

Monitoring and mitigation

We proactively monitor noise levels at every football fixture we host, in a number of ways:

• Our team of match day staff patrol our ground on an ongoing basis through the whole match day/evening and observe the noise levels at all perimeter points.
• We consider if the noise could be excessive, using guidance from Newcastle City Council Environmental Health.
• We consider if the types of noise are appropriate for a football fixture or unusual.
• For evening matches where the match starts any time after 18:00, we use a reduced volume level on our PA system for music and announcements (other than emergency/safety ones)
• For evening matches we ban the use of drums, speakers or horns by any spectators in attendance
• We do not allow the banging of the back of spectator accommodation stands at any time
• We do not allow the banging of advertising boards on the pitch perimeter fencing at any time
• We use our social media outlets to regularly remind visitors to be considerate of our neighbours when leaving the premises after the match

Our match day staff are trained to consider what noise is fair and appropriate and what noise is deemed excessive. Where noise is deemed to be excessive, we take steps to address it immediately.

Neighbours Notification Process

Neighbour notifications will be delivered as information leaflets posted through the door of all properties whose boundary touches ours. This includes properties on Newton Road, Boundary Gardens, Cotswold Gardens and Cleveland Gardens.

Neighbour Notifications will include:

• Match dates and times
• Copy of this Noise Management Plan
• Contact Information / Complaints

At the start of each season, when the fixture list is confirmed, we will notify our neighbours of the scheduled home fixture dates and how to find out about any updates as the season progresses. There are many factors which result in fixture dates and times changing and this information is easily available on our website and social media channels.

When we expect to have a larger crowd than usual, we will issue a specific notification to provide advance warning.

Complaints Process

Noise complaints can be sent to info@heatonstan.co.uk and we will issue a response within 28 days of receipt.

 

Last updated: 6 November 2024
Next review: 30 June 2025