MORE than 70 people affected by motorway noise turned up at a Maidstone council inquiry reconvened at Harrietsham Village Hall.

John Stewart, chairman of UK Noise Association and Director of Transport 2000, an independent national body concerned with sustainable transport, was the main speaker at the meeting.

He said that while the problems of air quality near motorways were beginning to be dealt with, noise was "the forgotten pollutant".

Mr Stewart, who was giving evidence to the council's health and the environment overview and scrutiny committee, said what was lacking in the UK was a strategic approach to the problem. The inquiry, which is considering both noise and environmental pollution, was told that a recent study in Belgium had found that children living near motorways were suffering academically.

One member of the public said that he had recorded noise levels of 76 decibels in his garden at 3am when the wind was blowing away.

Mr Stewart said that any level of noise above 75 decibels in the workplace would require workers to be given ear protectors.

He added that the best motorway surface for motorways was porous asphalt which would reduce the noise by eight decibels in dry conditions and eight in wet.

After he had given evidence, Mr Stewart, Faversham and Mid Kent MP Hugh Robertson, and committee chairman Cllr Tony Harwood (Lib Dem) formed a panel to answer questions from the public.

During the meeting, Cllr Fran Wilson (Lib Dem) spoke about barriers and other motorway noise mitigation carried out in the Netherlands and a number of local people volunteered their gardens as locations for the council to measure levels of traffic noise.

William Benson, the council's scrutiny manager, added: "It was very helpful to have so many people turn up and express their views. It adds support and momentum to what we are doing and it will also be helpful to have some case studies."