Description

Although the Netherlands is renowned as Europe's bicycle capital, the volume of motorized traffic on Dutch roads has increased by a third in the last ten years. Increased traffic means increased noise. This is a problem for building companies which by law have to construct houses to comply with strict noise regulations.

Transcript

Housing and Noise Regulations in the Netherlands Narrator: Bikes, bikes, bikes, bikes. The Netherlands is renowned as Europe’s bike capital. But while bicycle is still triumph from Dutch roads, the volume of motorized traffic has increased by a third in the last 10 years. Increased traffic means increased noise, a problem for building companies which by law have to construct houses to comply with strict noise regulations. Ruel Slagter: Our houses must be properly insulated and the regulations are -- that is a certain level of noise and it's not possible to make houses when the noise level is high. -- came to me and decided to build these homes because in this country, we live in a very small country. And we need locations for housing and near the highways and near the railways, there are a lot of locations that are suitable for housing. Erna Schmidt: We bought a house because of the dike at the back of the house. We like this very much; no windows at the backside of the house and also the patio, that attracted and also the living room, the size of the living room and two bedrooms. Narrator: The Schmidt’s had a few problems there. Erna Schmidt: The dike doesn’t stay, so when there is a lot of rain and winds, it's floating away. Folkert Schmidt: It's floating away. Narrator: We asked if despite this leakage of the dike, the Schmidt’s would buy their house again. Erna Schmidt: Yes, we will buy it again. It's a lot of light and the sun is still shining in the house and it's quiet here, so yes. Narrator: The noise wall is so successful that Vilma is catching in and building a second estate next to one of the busiest motorways in the Netherlands. The houses and noise barrier are still under construction. Local competition for the homes has been so great that 150 people from the community have been fighting for the chance to move in. Local restaurant owner Martin Devries was one of the lucky ones. It's hard to imagine that his restaurant is directly in front of his home behind the barrier. Marti Devries: Welcome in Palm Grove Restaurant. This house is a building on the highway. I bet you don’t believe it, this wall in the other side is a highway with 86,000 cars a day. This is the living room and we are very proud of the light in this house. This roof and on the side makes it a very comfortable house, also very important that we have lowdown energy. This is our bedroom and the space is so amazing and nobody believes that we lay in our heads in the highway.