Heliport faces choppy landing at V&A
GOOD BUSINESS: A helicopter takes off from the helipad at the V&A Waterfront IS it a town? Is it an airport? No, it’s the V&A Waterfront, the country’s busiest helicopter base — and one of the noisiest, say ratepayers.
Now the Civil Aviation Authority has stepped in.
A huge growth in visitor numbers has fuelled demand for short flights over Table Mountain and around the coast.
But while retailers and helicopter operators are smiling, some residents accuse the Waterfront of ignoring complaints about the noise. Things are set to change:
The Waterfront has agreed to consolidate air traffic activities and set up the country’s first heliport, partly to ensure compliance with amended civil aviation regulations;
A heliport manager will be appointed to oversee daily operations; and
Manuals for heliport operations, emergencies and air safety risks and how they will be mitigated will be compiled.
CAA spokesman Kabelo Ledwaba said the changes stemmed from an inspection late last year. Once the Waterfront had com- plied, a fresh inspection would be done for approval of the heliport.
Ledwaba said intervention was necessary since “the need for compliance to new requirements has emerged” in terms of amendments to the civil aviation regulations. Previously, helicopter operations did not need to be licensed as the Waterfront “was regarded as a docking area for ships and/or an industrial area”, Ledwaba said. This had changed, partly due to the presence of fee-paying customers.
Air traffic in and out of the Waterfront was monitored by the tower at Ysterplaat air force base. Operators were not required to file flight plans but they had to follow specific flight paths, said Ledwaba.
Luke Stevens, vice-chairman of the Green Point Ratepayers Association, said noise concerns had been discussed with Waterfront management.
The chief concern was “overflights”, which could happen up to 14 times an hour. “There are no controls . . . which is the missing piece — no guideline that says a maximum of 60 flights,” said Stevens.
“There are two contours of noise: the incessant drone of a helicopter in the distance and the violent slap of rotors as it comes in for the descent.”
Waterfront spokeswoman Carla White confirmed the complaints but said the noise level had dropped, “in part due to open co-operation between the V&A and operators, and operators conceding to fly at a minimum 2 500 feet, as well as flying further off the coast”.
The company was preparing for the heliport. “In line with the change in legislation, we have taken the first steps to have the helipad approved as a heliport [a single point of lift-off/landing for all operators],” White said.
“The V&A and the operators will continue to operate within the safety requirements of the authority. An architect has been appointed to look at a new layout for the heliport to fit in with our long-term development vision. A meeting with the CAA is scheduled for April.”
The three Waterfront helicopter operators declined to comment on the changes.