Airport noise warning

HUNDREDS of new homes will be built near a flight path despite noise warnings from bosses at Newcastle Airport. Newcastle City Council has approved final designs for the housing estate on a site to the west of Hazlerigg and south of Brunswick Village.

However, planning committee members were forced to dismiss the concerns of airport chiefs who objected to the proposals. Only eight of the estate’s 455 homes were originally expected to fall within an area that would experience excessive noise from aircraft. However, since outline permission was granted for the development in 2016, the airport has calculated new noise estimates running up to 2035 – based on the continued growth of the airport and expected advances in aircraft technology.

The new estimates mean most of the homes on the estate would experience at least 54dB – the level above which the majority of the people will be seriously annoyed by noise – while many would fall into a 57dB area. But council planners said regulations meant they were powerless to take the new figures into account and had to abide by the previous decision to approve the principle of development on the land off Coach Lane.

A representative for the airport told the committee: “This development is very close to the end of the runway – 1.5km from the runway end. Aircraft noise will be heard everywhere on the site and for the majority of people it will be above the level which will cause common nuisance.”

They added: “It is not clear how the airport can grow when housing developments are being approved where it is known there is a significant impact.”

The development, proposed by Banks Property, was met with opposition when it was announced. Committee chair, Coun George Allison, said he believed the applicant had “gone above and beyond” taking into account the noise estimates in its designs.