New $4.3m preschool may never open because road noise would be an 'annoyance' to children

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From reporter Lee Kenny:

A brand new preschool may never open because noise from a nearby road would be an “annoyance” to the children.

BestStart spent about $4 million on the land and building in Grey Way Rd, in Christchurch – which backs on to Yaldhurst Rd/State highway 73 – and a further $300,000 on equipment and fittings.

The firm submitted a licensing application to the Ministry of Education in October 2020, but it was declined over concerns about traffic noise, which at times exceeded 55 decibels.

The company then spent $250,000 following the ministry's guidance for remedial work, which included erecting a large canopy, adding acoustic panels to the exterior of the building and installing fencing with acoustic properties.

The noise was reduced from about 58 to 60 decibels to 56 or 57dB.

Under the ministry's licensing criteria for centre-based early childhood education services “all practicable steps (should be) taken to ensure noise levels do not unduly interfere with normal speech and/or communication, or cause any child attending distress or harm”.

BestStart hired two independent acoustic experts who said they had “taken all practicable steps to mitigate the noise” and it was at an acceptable level.

However, when the noise was measured against the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, a public health expert said the levels were still unacceptable.

The ministry's letter said the noise “was an annoyance”, rather than a health risk, said Fiona Hughes, deputy chief executive at BestStart.

“We can’t lodge another licence application because it has to include a clear Health Report,” she said.

“I requested a meeting with the MoE, but they declined saying I’d need to submit an application. So it’s going around in circles with one agency pointing to the other.”

Ministry of Education spokesperson Nancy Bell, said the ministry declined an application on January 21, 2021 as it did not meet licensing requirements. They had not received another application since.

They advised BestStart Riccarton Park on September 2 they needed an updated general report from Te Whatu Ora Health NZ Waitaha, which would include a noise assessment, before they submitted a new application, Bell said.

“This is because it is now nearly two years since the original health report which may be now out of date.”

The preschool now sits empty. Staff have been hired and there was a waiting list of almost 50 children aged between 3 months to 5 years old.

BestStart has more than 260 early childhood centres across the country and Hughes said they have “never had a challenge over noise” despite having many centres on busy roads.

“We do quite a robust due diligence process to make sure there is a need in the community, so we were quite well aware that there was,” she said.

“We were quite confident that this would be a good service to offer to the community.”

The company will now decide what to do with the site.

“We are at a crossroad,” Hughes said.

“Either we don't spend any more money, we've already sunk millions. Or we invest some more money and go down a legal route, or we find an alternative use for the building.”