Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Act 2024

25 National strategy on soundscapes

(1) The Welsh Ministers must prepare and publish a strategy containing their policies with respect to the assessmen‍t, management and design of soundscapes in Wales.

(2) The strategy must include policies for assessing and‍ effectively managing noise pollution.

(3) The Welsh Ministers must keep their policies with respect to soundscapes under review.

(4) The Welsh Ministers may modify the strategy from time to time.

(5) The Welsh Ministers must review the strategy and, if appropriate, modify it—

(a) within 5 years of the publication of the strategy, and

(b) within each period of 5 years beginning with the day on which the Welsh Ministers completed their most recent review under this subsection.

(6) The Welsh Ministers must, in preparing or reviewing the strategy—

(a) have regard to—

(i) scientific knowledge relevant to soundscapes, and

(ii) the most recent strategic noise maps adopted under regulation 23 of the Environmental Noise (Wales) Regulations 2006 (S.I 2006/2629);

(b) consult—

(i) the Natural Resources Body for Wales,

(ii) every local authority in Wales,

(iii) every Local Health Board established under section 11 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 (c. 42),

(iv) every National Health Service trust established under section 18 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006,

(v) every public services board (within the meaning of Part 4 of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (anaw 2)),

(vi) the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales‍,

(vii) Transport for Wales, and

(viii) the public.

(7) The Welsh Ministers may by regulations amend this section for the purpose of changing the period within which they must review the strategy.

(8) If the Welsh Ministers publish a strategy that meets the requirements of subsections (1) and (2) before this section comes into force, that strategy is to be treated as the strategy prepared and published under subsection (1) (and subsection (6) does not apply to the preparation of the strategy).

(9) In this section and section 26, “local authority” means a county council or county borough council.