I recently attended a conference in Brussels regards Airport Noise, the conference was organised by the Airport Regional Conference, (ARC) the conference was over one day and a number of International Airports were represented as well as a number of local authorities and community groups. please see the following report:
Dear Mayor and Fellow Councillors
I recently attended a conference on the 20th of November 2015 regarding Airport related Noise and its effects on local communities. The Conference was Titled- The New Noise Regulation (Impact and opportunities for Cities and Regions)
The Conference was held in Belgium and hosted by the Airport Regional Conference (ARC) The President Sergi Alegre was in attendance.
The workshop included a number of experts and representatives from different countries as well as International Airports, such as Frankfurt, Heathrow, Dublin, and Aeroports De Paris.
The conference started at 10am and finished at 4.30. The issue of Airport noise was discussed and debated as to what noise is and when does noise become a nuisance, it was more or less acknowledged that perception and affects of noise is hard to pin down as it can be subjective.
A number of ways were discussed as to what airport authorities can do to encourage Air Navigation Service Providers to control departure and arrivals from airports to reduce noise and also to offer respite to communities affected by the noise, such as encouraging continuous decent flight paths, also discussed was what Airplane Manufacturers were doing to make aircraft less noisy.
Mr Koen De Vos, Policy Officer from the European Commission informed us that the Regulation regarding Noise at Airports included a new 5th Pillar and that pillar is the local community. He also said that “ the regulation is not a European Directive, and all stakeholders need to be consulted with regard to what tools can be used to prevent noise pollution in and around Airports”.
He was at great pains to stress that in order to get consensus to resolve issues related to airport nose that it needs to be a collaborative effort.
One other very important statement he made was the role that the Local Authority to ensure Land Use Planning took into account future development of Airports to ensure that there is no encroachment into existing and potential noise contours.
I hope this report has offered some insight into the conference agenda. I am available to discuss this matter with fellow councillors at anytime that suits them.
For more information please look up REGULATION (EU) No 598/2014 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 April 2014
Cllr. Joe Newman
22/11/2015