BASELINE NOISE DATA GATHERING TAKING PLACE FOR WSA
Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury residents may be asked to take part in noise monitoring in coming weeks as part of data collection for Western Sydney Airport and its flightpaths.
I believe our community deserves to know how the plans for the flightpaths are progressing.
Until the change of government, information had been kept secret. I remain highly concerned about the impacts flightpaths will have, but I am committed to being transparent and open about the work being done.
I have been advised that some residents may be asked to have noise monitors in their backyards, for up to a month, to assist in baseline data collection as part of the Western Sydney Airport Airspace and Flightpath Design Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process.
This is an important part of the EIS and I encourage residents to participate, if asked.
As far as I am aware, this is the first baseline monitoring of ambient noise levels that has ever taken place – despite the previous Liberal/National government supposedly working on this project for the past six years. Biodiversity monitoring is also taking place in some areas close to the airport itself.
The noise fieldwork will establish ambient noise data across a wide swathe of Western Sydney, including areas of the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury.
It will be carried out by WSP Australia, who has been contracted to do this work. It involves having a box with recording equipment placed outside in someone’s yard. People should check the credentials of anyone who approaches them for access to their property.
The construction of the airport is clearly well-advanced following decisions of the former Liberal/National government.
While we all know it’s being built, under the previous government, no information had been released to our community about the preliminary flightpath work and under their timetable this information is not due to be released until mid-2023.
The adopted 2016 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was for a 24 hours a day, seven days a week airport with the intention of a night-time flight exclusion zone for existing residential areas. As part of the final approval, airspace and flightpath design was required to be part of a separate EIS process, which is now underway.
It is therefore extremely important that the flow of information begins – as it is with this update – so the public can see where we are in the process.
As the Member for Macquarie, I will continue to shine a light on these issues for the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury communities and ensure the concerns of my community are heard at the highest level.
