Noise from pubs and clubs is inherently different from noise from other industries, not only due to its nature in terms of acoustic composition but also because of the difference in people's acceptance to it. Obviously, patrons inside those pubs and clubs enjoy and want the sounds from singers and musical instruments, while residents in the neighbourhood regard those as "unwanted sounds". Hong Kong has been adopting a threshold of "annoyance" in assessing the acceptability of music noise, and in particular the criterion of "inaudibility" is used during the sensitive non-sociable hours from 11 pm to 7 am. Indeed, this criterion had been challenged by pub operators and there was one case that was escalated to the Court of Final Appeal. Eventually, the Court upheld the criterion of "inaudibility" as a reasonable standard for protecting residents. This paper will give an account of the mechanism and criteria in tackling music noise generated from premises in Hong Kong, review the effectiveness of different noise control measures adopted with a view to satisfying the noise criterion, discuss the constraints commonly encountered in mixed commercial /residential settings, and offer a multi-prong approach in resolving such noise problems.
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