Stoisits: Noise pollution caused by local guests - lack of protection for local residents and neighbors
For years, the residents and neighbors of two local clubs in the district of Salzburg Schallmoos are annoyed about the constant level of noise. They feel encircled between the bar and brewery. By night, sleep is almost impossible.
The streams of visitors are on the road all night and get louder and louder; it has been like this for seven years now, not only during weekends.
The district Schallmoos is actually a traditional residential area, but the two premises are now serving around 400 seats. Since the opening of the “Sudwerk” seven years ago, the noise level is unbearable. The curfew at the “Weiße” is 2 am, but the party continues in the second place, “Sudwerk”, till 4 am. Often, people are singing, screaming or fighting in the streets after 4 am.
The City Council Salzburg wanted to help by reducing the closing time to 12 am, but in the second instance, the decision was repealed. The radius the City Council had used was too large.
The residents and neighbors feel ignored, they are dissappointed by the outcome of the proceedings. In the studio, the manager pointed out the approval of the two premises as an inn (till 2 am) and a bar (till 4 am). These closing times would be kept. The responsible section chief in the Ministry of Economic Affairs indicated that the City Council did not take the right way to reduce the curfew. He would not see a need to amend the Industrial Code.
The Councillor for Planning, Transport and Construction, complained that it was almost impossible to reduce the curfew. Only the noise directly outside the front door could be measured and it would be difficult to determine clearly whether sleep was really disturbed. Since the 1988 trade law amendment, the authority for trade is no longer responsible for noise caused outside the bar or restaurant. Only noise inside the bar or restaurant is measured.
Ombudswoman Stoisits: "For seven years, the residents and neighbors have been haunted. The proceedings by the authorities failed. For years, the Austrian Ombudsman Board criticized the regulations of the Industrial Code. This regulation does not serve the peace, wellbeing and life quality of the neigbors but primarily supports companies. The legal instruments of reducing the curfew are too complicated and therefore unsuitable. The right to sleep must be respected.“