Noise News
Below are links to stories about noise in relation to airports and aviation.
HACAN welcomes plan to build Adobe huts on playing fields of Eton
1st April. This story is, sadly, not true. But it is a lovely thought ..... Campaign group HACAN has welcomed today’s announcement from the Government that it will fund deluxe Adobe huts for Eton College if it gives the green light to a third runway at Heathrow. Eton will be directly under the flight path of a new runway. There have been concerns expressed of the noise impact on Eton’s famous playing fields. HACAN chair John Stewart said, “Parents will undoubtedly welcome this announcement that Adobe huts will be built on the playing fields of Eton”. The huts will be an upmarket version of those already seen the playgrounds of a number of schools in Hounslow in west London. The Government had said that it will fund three in the first year after the opening of any new runway. They will be named after two of the school’s most famous old boys: Dave and Boris. And also George (not at Eton, but at St Paul's). It was reported in April 2013 that four adobe domes had been put up in the grounds of Hounslow Primary school, which is under the southern runway flight path at Heathrow, in order to enable the children to use the playground despite the plane noise. In April 2013 Heathrow said it would spend £1.8 million to extend the scheme to 21 schools that are badly affected by aircraft noise. Heathrow is desperate to try and persuade London residents that aircraft noise is being dealt with. Including at Eton.
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Gatwick publishes its response to the Arrivals Review – accepting all 23 recommendations
At the end of January, an Independent Arrivals Review was completed by Bo Redeborn. Gatwick was required to publish details comments on this, by 31st March, which they have done. Gatwick says it accepts all the 23 recommendations, though under some of the recommendations there is a long Benefits/Issues section, with various caveats. Some of the recommendations were relatively uncontroversial. Perhaps the most controversial was Recommendation 10, "for aircraft to be vectored to be established on the ILS at a minimum of 8nm (nautical miles)from touchdown outside of night hours, rather than the current 10nm." Also that "the arrival swathe would normally extend from a minimum of 8nm to 14nm, with aircraft joining on a straight in approach when traffic permits.” This would mean less noise for some areas, but perhaps more for those living around 8nm from the runway. Gatwick says: "GAL is minded to accept this recommendation. But its implementation is a complex matter and GAL will therefore seek to ensure that its impact is fully understood before a final decision is taken." Gatwick agrees to improve its dreadful complaints system, and set up in Independent Noise Monitoring Board, though this would probably include only 2 community and 2 local council representatives. There will now be a 6 week public consultation until 16th May.
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New study on effect of low ambient noise level on plane noise perception undermines Gatwick 2nd runway case
It is accepted that there is a difference in the way aircraft noise is perceived, depending on the level of background (ambient) noise. At its most obvious, someone standing near a noisy urban road will not notice the noise of a plane flying overhead as much as someone in a quiet location. GACC has commissioned work by Dutch noise experts, looking at the effect of ambient noise. The authors conclude that the % of annoyed residents is likely to be higher in areas with low ambient noise than in high ambient noise areas. The authors suggest that the number of people annoyed is likely to be higher than shown by Leq or Lden metrics, where local factors that influence annoyance are not taken into account. Gatwick is surrounded on 3 sides by designated tranquil areas such as the AONBs. GACC says that, with a 2nd runway, not only would three times as many people be affected by serious aircraft noise as now, but also - due to the effect of noise on quiet rural areas being under-estimated by the Airports Commission and by Gatwick - the usual comparisons between a large number of people annoyed by a new Heathrow runway and a smaller number at Gatwick are not valid. GACC say that, as well as a 3rd Heathrow runway, a 2nd Gatwick runway would also annoy a very large number of people. "Neither runway should be built."
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Response by AEF on EU Environmental Noise Directive – needs strengthening to preserve health
The European Commission held a consultation on the "relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and EU added value of the Environmental Noise Directive (END)." The AEF has responded to this, commenting that while the END had improved noise monitoring, it should be strengthened to achieve its aim of reducing the health burden of noise from transport sources including aviation. The END requires member states to produce action plans to reduce ‘excessive’ noise levels. The END helped establish noise as a major public health issue, with the mapping requirement helping to improve awareness of the noise problem around the UK’s airports. However, AEF believes the END "should explicitly outline noise levels (limit values) that should be met in order to reduce the health burden from noise. These noise levels should be in line with WHO recommendations (1999) and set out in the END." AEF believes "noise action plans should be assessed in terms of how effectively they contribute to reducing noise towards health-based levels" ... Also "the END’s objective “to preserve environmental noise quality where it is good” is not currently being effectively delivered and the protection of rural quiet areas should become a stronger priority for noise action plans."
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Residents in Calgary, Canada, suffering unacceptable noise due to new 4th runway
In June 2014, Calgary airport in Canada opened a new 4th runway. It was the longest in Canada, at 14,000 feet, and 200 feet wide "able to land the world’s largest aircraft." Being parallel to an existing runway, planes taking off need to diverge by 10 degrees from the other take off route. Planes heading east often make their turns over homes in the Marlborough area. There has been a lot of anger and upset there, about the noise burden. Hundreds from the Marlborough area attended a recent meeting, to try to get the Calgary Airport Authority to improve the noise situation. People are finding the noise from planes overhead every few minutes intolerable, and a local Airplane Noise Committee was formed in October 2015. One affected resident said: “I’m suffering severely now from headaches, migraines. I can’t sleep at night…. My beds vibrate. Everything,” An earlier meeting in January, attended by about 500 residents, was very heated and residents did not find it productive. The Calgary Airport Authority (CAA) said they’re "listening to concerns and trying to come up with solutions but there’s no easy fix." The CAA said it asks pilots to reach 1,000 feet before turning, but suggests it’s up to individual airlines to enforce. They want planes to fly a bit higher, and avoid turns at low altitude. CAA wants dialogue (residents want less noise).
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Blog by James Lees: New Flight Paths – Bulldozing over your house tomorrow?
In a blog for the Huffington Post, AEF's James Lees explains how the way airspace change happens now is unsatisfactory, and many complicated issues need to be resolved before aircraft noise is inflicted on communities. At present, no consultation is needed for new flight path trials which are aimed at increasing capacity at airports. The negative impacts of being exposed to high levels of annoying noise, especially at night, are now well known. It is anachronistic that aviation is exempt from noise nuisance laws going back 90 years. The CAA says airspace is "in need of modernisation" with an "unprecedented" number of airspace change proposals in the coming years. These changes could involve new flight paths and new people being overflown. James says these communities should be involved throughout the process and their interests should not be overridden by those of the industry, which benefits from the changes. There is also a clear need for better government policy on aircraft noise, and there are key questions to be dealt with by the DfT. These include: Does Government think it's acceptable for new flight paths to expose new communities to aircraft noise? And should aircraft be 'concentrated' down increasingly narrow routes? What is the public health impact? Read the full blog.
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At London City Airport Inquiry, HACAN East calls for noise insulation to match the best in Europe
HACAN East, the resident-led group opposing expansion of London City Airport called for insulation offered by City Airport to match the best in Europe. The call came during the opening week of the Public Inquiry into the airport’s expansion plans. John Stewart, Chair of HACAN East, said: "If expansion goes ahead the number of people overflown by City Airport planes will be higher than that of any airport in the UK, other than Heathrow and Manchester. Airports like Frankfurt or Charles de Gaulle in Paris are twice as generous with the insulation schemes offered to residents as London City." City Airport wants to enlarge its infrastructure to allow use by larger aircraft. Newham Council gave permission for the airport to expand in February 2015, but this was overturned by Boris Johnson on noise grounds the following month. The airport appealed against his decision. The result is this public inquiry. Lawyers for the Mayor argued in the opening week of the Inquiry that City Airport should compensate more people than it is prepared to do, if its expansion is allowed. HACAN East said they are concerned about the residents and communities outside the 57LAeq 16hr contour. Many of these people experience significant aircraft noise, but there is nothing in the airport's application to deal with those impacts
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Mayor reveals cost to public health from noise due to Heathrow 3rd runway would be £20 – 25 bn over 60 years
A new report published by the Mayor of London and TfL has revealed that the long term health effects of exposure to the extra noise - due to a 3rd Heathrow runway - would be valued at a staggering £20 to 25 billion over 60 years. The figure is derived using methodology from the WHO, which values each lost year of healthy life at £60,000. That reflects the increased risk of heart attack, stroke, dementia and other disorders shown to be linked to prolonged exposure to aircraft noise. TfL calculate that while there are now about 766,000 people affected by an “annoying” level of noise from Heathrow, if the speculative improvements in noise exposure proposed by the Airports Commission do not actually happen, there could be as many as 986,600 affected. There could also be between 98,900 and 277,100 people newly affected by plane noise for the first time. The runway would also expose 124 more schools and 43,000 school children to a level of aircraft noise proven to be damaging to learning. TfL also says the number of daily journeys to Heathrow by passengers and staff is expected to rise from 200,000 to 430,000 by 2050. “At some locations, non-airport passengers will be unable to join rail services because of crowding exacerbated by passengers travelling with luggage towards central London.”
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London City Airport 4-week appeal under way, against Mayor’s refusal of expansion plans
A planning appeal by London City Airport, against refusal by the Mayor of London for its expansion plans is taking place at City Hall. It is due to last 3 - 4 weeks. Newham Council approved plans for the £200 million redevelopment in February 2015, but when they were referred to the Mayor for approval, he overruled the permission on grounds of too much aircraft noise. It appears the GLA (Greater London Authority) has little complaint about much of the application, and is supportive of the airport's growth in principle. However, noise is the key issue and there is a fundamental difference in the way the noise contours are being used, by the two sides. The contours using averaged noise for the airport's operations give a smaller 57dB area than if single noise measurements are used. Opponents of the airport's expansion, HACAN East, fear that the expansion plans would mean many thousand residents experiencing much higher amounts of noise. They say their supporter base believes that current noise levels are unacceptable. John Stewart, speaking for HACAN East said: “Our supporters have felt over the years that their voices have not been heard, not by the airport, not by Newham. Many residents close to the airport have felt abandoned. They have felt overwhelmed by this planning application which has lasted over two and a half years."
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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.