HACAN estimate true cost of noise insulation for 3rd Heathrow runway at around £1.8 bn – not £700 m
Heathrow has set aside £700 million to insulate homes affected by noise from a 3rd runway. That would be for 160,000 homes, which is the number regarded as being within the 55 decibel Lden noise contour, with the worst affected getting the full cost paid and others getting up to £3,000 to pay for the work. But the community anti-expansion group HACAN calculates that insulating all these homes would cost at least double the £700 million figure. HACAN estimates the real cost at nearer £1.8 billion, based on data they obtained from two companies that provide sound insulation. UK Soundproofing Ltd of West Sussex and Tudor Windows of London considered the average semi-detached house would cost around £11,800 to fully insulate against noise. It does not appear that Heathrow’s offer would be enough to do a proper job, even though they could probably get insulation cheaper by placing a huge contract. Heathrow is not intending to spend any more money on noise insulation, if it is not allowed a 3rd runway – and its insulation scheme is very poor in comparison with other large European airports. It is understood that Heathrow currently pays for soundproofing, including double glazing and loft insulation, at approximately 40,000 homes. The insulation is, of course, of no use if windows are open – or outdoor, in street, park or garden.
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True cost of noise insulation for third runway at Heathrow estimated at £1.8bn
15 MAR 2016 (Evening Standard)
BY ROBERT CUMBER
The figure quoted by anti-expansion group HACAN is well over twice the £700m set aside by bosses at the airport
Heathrow has massively underestimated the cost of soundproofing homes affected by a third runway, say campaigners.
Bosses at the airport have set aside £700m to provide noise insulation for 160,000 homes should it get the go-ahead for an extra runway. [That comes to an average of £4,375 for each home].
But anti-Heathrow expansion protest group HACAN says its research shows the true cost would be £1.8 billion.
The group calculated the figure following consultation with UK Soundproofing Ltd of West Sussex and Tudor Windows of London, which it said showed the average semi-detached house would cost around £11,800 to fully insulate against noise.
HACAN chairman John Stewart said: “Heathrow is offering to insulate many more properties than it does today. Our supporters welcome this but only if their homes will be fully insulated. The cost of doing that would run into billions.
“Admittedly, our estimates are based on costs for an individual home and there would be discounts if an order was placed, but it will still cost substantially more than the £700m originally put forward.”
Heathrow Airport has promised to quadruple the number of homes eligible for noise insulation should it get a third runway, as it nearly tripled the amount of compensation available.
getwestlondon has contacted Heathrow Airport for a comment.
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HEATHROW’S THIRD RUNWAY HOME INSULATION COSTS COULD SOAR TO ALMOST £2bn
15.3.2016 (Hacan press release)
Heathrow may need to fork out nearly £2 billion on insulation of properties if a 3rd runway goes ahead.
Last year Heathrow announced that it was putting aside £700 million to insulate 160,000 homes if the Government gives a new runway the green light. But research by campaign group HACAN, which opposes a third runway, suggests the figure could be much higher if the insulation is done properly
In consultation with UK Soundproofing Ltd of West Sussex and Tudor Windows of London, HACAN has revealed that the average semi detached house will cost about £11,800 to totally insulate a property against noise. The total coast of full insulation of 160,000 homes would be £1.8 billion.
HACAN chair John Stewart said, “Heathrow are offering to insulate many more properties than they do today. Our supporters welcome this but only if their homes will be fully insulated. The cost of doing that would run into billions.”
Stewart added, “Admittedly, our estimates are based on costs for an individual home and there would be discounts if an order was placed, but it will still cost substantially more than the £700m originally put forward.”
http://hacan.org.uk/category/press-releases-from-hacan/
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Heathrow expansion: More homes eligible for noise insulation if third runway is built
3 FEB 2015 (Get West London)
BY ROBERT CUMBER
Campaigners have welcomed the scheme but say the airport must up its game even if it doesn’t get a new landing strip
Heathrow Airport has promised to quadruple the number of homes eligible for noise insulation should it get a third runway, as it nearly tripled the amount of compensation available.
But anti-expansion campaigners called on the airport to make clear what long-suffering residents would be offered should it miss out on a new landing strip.
Heathrow last May proposed to expand its noise insulation scheme by increasing the compensation pot for homes, schools and other buildings under its flight paths from £30 million at present to £250m with a new runway.
On Monday (February 2), it announced that following consultation with local residents it was improving that sum to £700m and extending the offer to some 160,000 homes – including properties as far away as Windsor and Richmond.
Heathrow currently pays for soundproofing, including double glazing and loft insulation, at approximately 40,000 homes.
Under the new scheme, it would be available to all households within the 55 decibel Lden noise contour, with the worst affected getting the full cost paid and others getting up to £3,000 to pay for the work.
The compensation would be offered to people already affected by noise as well as those experiencing it for the first time with a third runway.
Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “We designed the new approach to expanding Heathrow to minimise noise to local residents, but we also need to mitigate the impact on those who are still affected.
“Today’s announcement does that, and is based on the feedback we have received from local residents over the last few months; it will reduce the impact of noise, and treat local people fairly.
“Now we want to work with local communities to ensure that the opportunities from expansion – up to 40,000 new skilled jobs at Heathrow, 10,000 apprenticeships, tackling youth unemployment – benefit those who are most affected by expansion.”
Heathrow vs Gatwick
Under the new scheme, more than 35,000 homes in Hounslow alone, including all those in Heston and Cranford, would be eligible for compensation.
The new offer was included in Heathrow’s latest submission to the Airports Commission, which closes its public consultation on Tuesday.
The Heathrow anti-expansion campaign group HACAN welcomed the new package, which it said would bring the airport in line with its main European competitors like Schiphol, Madrid, Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt airports.
But it called on Heathrow to offer a more generous compensation package even if a third runway is ruled out – something the airport has yet to do.
HACAN chairman John Stewart said: “There is no doubt that this is much more generous than anything we have seen before and it brings Heathrow into line with other major European airports.
“But it does show how eager the airport is to get a new runway. It also suggests that residents have been short-changed in the past.
“Residents already living under the flight paths want to know today whether they will be offered improved insulation without a third runway because a new runway, whatever happens, is over 10 years away.”
In December last year, Hounslow Council said the cost of insulating homes within the borough alone should a third runway be built would be £200 million.
[About 320,000 new people will be affected by noise due to a Heathrow 3rd runway – a population the size of Coventry – according to Gatwick airport].
Earlier:
Heathrow’s improved offer of £700 million for noise compensation, if there was a 3rd runway, wouldn’t help residents in many areas
On the last day of the Airports Commission consultation about its 3 short-listed runway schemes, Heathrow Airport came up with a new, more widespread and more generous offer of compensation against aircraft noise, IF it got a new runway. However, this offer is not to be offered to residents in many affected areas, including Bracknell, Ascot or Wokingham. The £700 million that Heathrow says it would spend on noise insulation etc would only be for homes judged the worst affected by noise – with no homes south of Wraysbury included. The number of homes eligible for offered compensation will depend on the final design of flight paths from an expanded Heathrow, and those are not yet known. Residents in Bracknell and Ascot, who have been incensed by the aircraft noise to which they have been subjected this year, say that even if they were offered compensation it still would not be enough, and it would not solve the problem. Heathrow claims that flight paths and use of airspace in the area has reverted to its pre-trail state, but residents believe it has not. People are now much more aware of aircraft noise, and their tolerance for it has declined – and they know that no amount of money would be enough to keep the level of noise outside the house down, in gardens, parks, playgrounds and streets. Many believe the increased Heathrow offer, and its timing, is merely a PR stunt.
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Also
On final day of Commission consultation, Heathrow raises extent of its noise insulation offer, if it gets a 3rd runway
As part of its attempt to get acceptance for a 3rd runway, Heathrow has had to raise its offer on noise insulation. On the last day of the Airports Commission consultation, it has made a significantly better offer, saying it “could” (sic) pay around £700 million – which is £450 million more than its previous offer in May 2014. This would cover parts of the 55 Lden noise contour area. The number of people within that contour was 725,500 in 2006 and over 314,000 dwellings. Heathrow says their offer now covers about 160,000 homes, and they have included two new areas, not previously covered by their scheme (no map is published).Heathrow has now raised the quality of its noise insulation offer to match those already used in Europe – its current noise insulation offers are far below these. In its new scheme, Heathrow says homes in designated zones “stand to have” (not “will”) the ” full costs of their noise insulation covered by the airport. In addition, up to £3,000 in noise insulation would be offered to homes further away from the airport.” This would be acoustic double glazing; ceiling over-boarding in bedrooms; loft insulation and ventilation. Many noise affected homes already have double glazing and loft insulation … and still suffer noise. Gardens and parks cannot be insulated. Campaigners said the improved offer was welcome, and should be carried out even if no runway is built, as it illustrates how poor and miserly the insulation schemes have been in the past.
https://www.airportwatch.org.uk/2015/02/25000/
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