At its meeting yesterday (Wednesday, September 4), the Aachen City Council unanimously approved the update of the noise action plan for the city of Aachen. The final version of the plan adopted yesterday describes steps to contain and reduce environmental noise over the next few years.

At the same time, the resolution instructs the administration to gradually drive forward the implementation of the listed measures by the relevant city departments or in coordination with external stakeholders. This means that the technical feasibility will now be closely examined and prepared, the necessary funding will be raised and the plans will ultimately be implemented step by step. Where necessary, more specific decisions will be obtained from the relevant departments for individual measures - also with regard to responsibilities, costs and financial resources. The administration will report regularly on implementation.

In February and May of this year, there were participation rounds in which citizens were able to report their comments and information on noise pollution in their area to the city. These were incorporated into the version that has now been adopted.

The so-called EU Environmental Noise Directive and its implementation in the Federal Immission Control Act require cities and municipalities to produce an updated noise map every five years. Following yesterday's decision, the update of the noise action plan including the updated noise map will now be reported to the responsible authorities at the state and district government. Both will soon be available at www.aachen.de/laermschutz and can already be found in the City of Aachen's new council information system in the documents for yesterday's City Council meeting: https://ratsinfo.aachen.de/public