CaseStudy:CroftMotorRacingCircuit InstallingAADsSportNoiseLivehasgivenustheabilitytostrictlyselfmonitorourselvessothatwestayconfidentlywithinour70dBrestrictionlevel.TraceyMorley,CircuitManager,CroftCircuit

Aerialviewofthetrackat CroftCircuit, North Yorkshire

Although Croft Circuit has existed since the late 1940s, itwas during the summer of 1963 thatplanning permission was granted to formally operate the venue for motor sporting purposes.FollowingtheCouncilsfailuretodetermineaplanningapplicationmadeduring1998,CroftenteredintoaUnilateralUndertakingmadeunderS106oftheTown&CountryPlanningActtocontrolnoiseemissions,accordingtoevidenceadducedatPublic InquirybyCroftsexpertnoiseandmotorsportwitness,TonyHoldich.Althoughtheunilateralundertakingrestrictedoperatinghoursandallocated lessmotorcircuituseto higher noise level vehicle types and more use to lower noise level vehicle types, withmeasurementsmadebyCroftandoverseenbytheCouncil,thiswasstillnotenoughforanunhappyneighbourwho, over the previous 10 years, tried all sorts ofways to have the circuit renderedinoperable. Inseekingaprivatenoisenuisanceaction,theneighboureventuallywon,albeitattheSupremeCourtofAppeal,with judgmenthandeddown in January 2009. Themain thrustof theneighbours legal argumentwas not related to noise frommotorsporting competition, but fromnonraceuses,includingtrackdays.TheJanuary2009judgementincludedaninjunction,reducinguseofthecircuitto40noisydaysperyearfromapotential230;thiseffectivelyallowsanunlimitednumberoflessnoisydays.Because the judgment represented aroundtwothirdsrevenuereduction,thereensuedagreatdealofdiscussionamongstthedirectorsas to whether it was feasible to take thecircuit forward. The directors decided thattheywouldliketoworkroundthis,andseeifinthefutureitcouldbecomefullyoperationalthrough alternative activities to those thattheyhistoricallyprovided, i.e. racemeetings,

trackdays,testingetc,mostofwhicharenowcompletely restricted to within the 40daybracket.

Itbecameapparent that to stay inbusiness, theywouldhave to concentrateon the quietnoiselevelwhichis70dBLAeq1hr.CroftsCircuitManager,TraceyMorley,explained:Wehadtodevelopabusinessplanthatoperatedwithinthisquietlevel,butIcouldntdothatwiththenoisemonitoringsystem thatwe had,whichwas amobile system that required being taken out in themorning,bringingback inatnight,andthedatadownloaded;onlythendidweknowthenoise levelsoftheday.Croft realised that theyneededsomething thatwouldeffectivelygive them real timenoise levelmeasurements.KnowingaboutAADsinnovativenoisemeasurementinstallationattheGoodwoodcircuitseveralyearsago,IspokewithTonyHoldich(DirectoratAAD),Traceyenthuses,andaskedifitcouldbedone.Hesaidyes,wecanputasysteminthatwillshowbothpassbynoiselevelsandhourly Leq (equivalent continuous level) effectively in real time. As our noise level limit is thehighesthouroftheday,thiswasjustwhatwedhopedfor.So, in amanner similar tomeetingGoodwoods challenging requirements some10 yearsbefore,AADwerecommissionedbyCroft todesignand installamotorsportnoisemanagementsolution,whichhasbeen insitusinceSeptember2009.Itsobviouslynotacheapexercise,Traceyadmits,butwefirmlybelievethatoverthenextfewyears itwillpayfor itselfmanytimesover.Certainlythedays that Ive runwherewereconductingexperiments,havebeenbrilliant; Imwatching themonitorinmyofficeallthetime;Icanseedrivebynoiselevelsplusthe1hrvalueatthesametimeandanythingthatdrivesbythatslikelytothreatenourlimit,whichis70dBforthequietdays,IcanjustsayflagthatvehicleorIcanstopasessionuntilitquietensoffabit.Sogoingforward,thisisgoingtobeabsolutelyinvaluable.What thismeans forCroftCircuit is that thequiet days are now available for a muchwiderrangeofactivitiesthataremore in linewithCrofts core specialties,and thebottomline is that the company remains a viablegoingconcern.

Traceyadmitsthattheyhadperhapsbecomeslightlycomplacentinthepast,insofarastheyknew that being amotor racing circuit they

could easily attract their previous type ofbusinesstesting,carandbiketrackdaysetc.Now that isall restrictedactivity, theyhavetoworkhardon thequiet level. Wehaveadrivingcentreheresodrivingdayexperiencesfit quite nicely into this quiet level, as docorporate and manufacturer days, withnormalroadsilencedcars.Ourchallengenowis to go out and find more of this type ofbusiness; now that weve installed AADsSportNoise Live,we know thatwehave theability to strictly selfmonitor ourselves sothat we stay confidently within our 70 dBrestrictionlevel.

TraceyMorley isfullofpraisefortheteamatAAD,headedbyTonyHoldich:IveknownTonyforquiteawhileand it reallyhashelped in thisproject thatheunderstands thebusiness,aswellasmotor racing;heknewexactlywhatwewanted straightaway.Theyhavebeen smashing toworkwithnothinghaseverbeentoomuchtrouble!Additionally, Tracey is enthusiastic about the ease with which she was able to understand thesoftware, and the support that AAD gave: Aswe started to use the system, therewere somenecessarymodificationsinordertosatisfythecouncilsrequirements;AADhavebeen100%reactivetoourrequirements,andcontinuetobefullysupportivetheyreallyaresupertoworkwith!The local authority,RichmondshireDistrictCouncil, are also satisfied that the system gives themexactlywhattheyneedtoensurethatCroftisstayingwithinthenoiselevelrestrictions.Tracey firmly believes that Crofts experience demonstrates that all circuits are vulnerable andwouldencouragethemtoensurethatwhattheyredoingtokeepwithinthelawisasrigorousasit

can be. Wewere caught out, she admits, and if itwerent for the solution provided byAAD,theresastrongpossibilitythatourtrackwouldhaveclosed,withasubsequentlossofjobs.DennisCarter,ourChiefExecutive,isreallyhappywiththesystemandiskeentosupportAADtointegratethesolutionintoothercircuitsasandwhenrequired.

ThefollowingseriesofslidesshowninehoursoftracksidenoiseleveldatameasuredasseenbytheCroftCircuit.Thesinglemicrophoneisplaced10mfromtracksideleft,attheexitfromamediumspeedrighthandcorner.Delaybetweenmeasurementandscreendisplayisapproximatelyfiveseconds.