Noise Mapping Scotland: Candidate Quiet Areas for Noise Action Plans

Candidate Quiet Areas are provisional designations of parks and gardens larger than 9 hectares with low environmental noise levels. Scottish Ministers commissioned this strategic noise mapping analysis to meet the requirements of the Environmental Noise (Scotland) Regulations 2006, as amended in 2018. The digital boundaries support the development of noise action plans aimed at preserving good noise quality and protecting quiet areas in agglomerations.

Use Cases

• Identify parks for noise protection based on area greater than 9 hectares and low noise levels.
• Classify quiet areas as Absolute or Relative based on strategic noise mapping analysis results.
• Support Local Authority evaluation of Candidate Quiet Areas during Noise Action Plan implementation.

Strengths

• Boundaries are derived from the OS Open Greenspace product, a recognized geographic data source.
• Candidate areas are defined by a specific size threshold of greater than 9 hectares.
• Analysis distinguishes between Absolute Quiet Areas and Relatively Quiet Areas based on noise mapping.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to its focus on Scotland.

Provenance

Source

Scottish Government SpatialData.gov.scot

Collection Method

Identified using OS Open Greenspace product and evaluated against strategic noise mapping analysis.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-19 19:06:20.429853; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Scotland