A $20,000 Blue Mountains Council commissioned study into aircraft noise has highlighted a number of “limitations” in the Australian government’s Environmental Impact Statement [EIS] on Western Sydney Airport, but the minister responsible for the airport has argued the information is “not true”.
Acoustic consultants, Marshall Day Acoustics [MDA] undertook the three month-long study to reveal the impact of Western Sydney Airport flight paths on the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. MDA is familiar with the Western Sydney Airport from their work on the draft EIS as part of the WSROCs peer review team.
The findings reveal the impact of flight paths over the Mountains and the lack of standards regarding aircraft noise management in natural areas, a council spokeswoman said.
The study said the method used to assess noise impacts in wilderness areas, using simple comparisons between natural and artificial sounds, was inappropriate. It recommended the impact of lower levels of noise needed to be assessed due to the existing low background levels in the national park.
But a spokeswoman for Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher said the council argument was “simply not true”.
“The comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Western Sydney Airport completed in 2016 found that there would be no significant impact on the Greater Blue Mountains area, including on its World Heritage values,” she said.
“It is important to note that the Greater Blue Mountains Area was listed as a World Heritage site in November 2000, at a time when it was the Australian government’s policy to build an airport at Badgerys Creek, and this was known to UNESCO.”
The spokeswoman added the “UNESCO World Heritage Centre recently commended the Australian government for keeping it informed and thanked us for our due diligence in this regard”.
Council commissioned the noise study after the government’s EIS stated the airport would not have a significant impact on World Heritage values or the actual World Heritage Area.
Mayor Mark Greenhill said the potential impacts had “been seriously overlooked with potentially disastrous consequences on its World Heritage values and the regional economy”.
“A key concern is the duration and frequency of noise rather than maximum noise level of any single overflight. The study demonstrates how the cumulative effect of increased aircraft overflights, and therefore noise events, could significantly diminish the amount of time in which the natural soundscape is experienced,” the mayor added.
The Mountains is one of only two cities in the world within a World Heritage listed national park and is the county’s most visited national park, attracting more than three million visitors annually.
The mayor said the Australian government had “not taken into account current international trends in the management of aircraft noise in national parks when proposing to operate a 24 hour flight path”.
“The US is trying to restore peace and tranquility across their national parks including the Grand Canyon, one of their most prized World Heritage Listed locations”, he said. “Let’s learn from their mistakes and not introduce aircraft noise here from the outset.”
The minister’s spokesperson said the mayor “wrongly claims the EIS overlooked the assessment on world heritage status but that had been “fully dealt with in chapter 26 of the EIS”.
The minister’s spokesperson added that the flight paths were only indicative and would be decided over a number of years in consultation with the community and the Forum on Western Sydney Airport [FOWSA] and using best practice in airspace design to avoid overflights of residential area .. and the impacts of aircraft on natural and visually sensitive areas, including the Blue Mountains World Heritage areas.
Council will present the findings of the study to FOWSA and has requested a briefing with Australian Government’s Airservices Australia.
