Airport to install new noise monitors
Readings will be shared publicly on website
FIFTY noise monitors being installed around Heathrow, in a move campaigners have described as a “step in the right direction”.
The new devices will more than double the number of air monitors it has in communities around its boundaries, the airport says.
Heathrow announced on Wednesday August 17 that it had begun installing the new devices and was also upgrading its network of existing monitors.
The readings will be shared publicly via the Heathrow noise website and the Heathrow Community Noise Forum.
It said the new monitors were one of 10 steps set out in the latest version of its Blueprint for Noise Reduction, published that day.
Other measures in the action plan include:
Fitting technology on aircraft new are quiet A320
Establishing a voluntary Quiet Night Charter to reduce the impact of Heathrow’s night operations
Launching web-based tool xPlane for residents to access flight data specific to their locations
The latest commitments on tackling noise follow consultation with residents on noise forum.
Heathrow chief executive John HollandKaye said: “Heathrow shares a common the objective with local residents: we want to make the skies around us quieter.
“The arrival of new, quieter aircraft and the start of our programme to install 50 new noise monitors will help us to accelerate the reduction in the noise impacts of Heathrow.”
The new monitors were welcomed by John Stewart, chairman of the anti-Heathrow expansion campaign group HACAN.
“This is very much a step in the right direction because noise monitors on the ground do reassure people that noise measurements are being taken accurately,” he said.
“We would like to see more noise monitors placed even farther from the airport than they are at the moment.”
The pro-expansion group Back Heathrow also hailed the investment in new noise monitors.
“These new noise monitors reflect the important work Heathrow has carried out over the last few months to listen to and engage with local residents,” said a spokesman for the group.
“The commitment to meet or exceed the environmental conditions set out by the Airports Commission means that people living nearby can feel confident that Heathrow can be bigger and better.”
Heathrow is lowering landing charges for quieter aircraft from January 2017 to encourage airlines to use them.
The airport says it has already seen a 5.5% annual increase in the proportion of quieter planes being used, according to the latest figures in its Fly Quiet League table.