AFTER more than four decades it is flight or fight for Mount Moreland resident, Ann Bosman who lives in the direct flight path of King Shaka International Airport. She claims that the airport promised to sound proof her home back in 1974 when the airport plans were first released.
Bosman is battling the high noise levels with planes passing low over her house at all hours.
“It affects me physically, mentally and emotionally. I try and deal with it. When the planes comes down to land, you can almost touch the plane, that’s how low it is. You can imagine the noise, it’s incredible, like when rugby or soccer is on in a full stadium. The noise just carries on. It lasts for about three minutes, the plane lands and then the next one comes and eventually, you just want to scream,” she said.
The noise continues throughout the night and into the early hours of the morning, she added.
Sound insultaion
Colin Naidoo, senior manager of Corporate Affairs for Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) at King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) said sound insulation and relocation are considered as a last option “once all the other measures have been exhausted.” Other measures taken include five Noise Monitoring Terminals in affected areas to continuously monitor and measure aircraft noise.
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“Since 2013, the data gathered from this monitoring network has shaped how the airport manages its ongoing operations. The extensive information gathered to date has provided a long term baseline, including daily and seasonal changes in both community generated noise as well as impacts from aircraft operations . The results of the monitoring have been consistently shared with the Committee Representatives, and competent Authorities in an open and transparent manner,” said Naidoo.
Continued communication
According to ACSA, KSIA has maintained ongoing communication with representatives of communities around the airport since the initial Environmental Impact Assessment before the airport was constructed.
“One of the engagement forums, the Airport Noise Consultative Committee, includes both industry specialists and community-nominated representatives from the surrounding areas. The information provided at these engagements is cascaded to the communities via these representatives. This committee has been actively meeting since 2011. KSIA follows the Balanced Approach to Aircraft Noise Management which is a policy set out by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a body of the United Nations. The tenets of this policy are reinforced by the Record of Decision (RoD), that provides a legal basis for ACSA to manage their noise impacts on the communities around the airport,” said Naidoo.
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“Active consultation with the relevant authorities has been taking place over the past year to discuss how acoustic treatment might best be implemented. Such implementation remains subject to further assessment and consultation not only with communities but also with relevant local and provincial authorities. Airports Company South Africa King Shaka International Airport continuously strive to ensure compliance of its operations to legal requirements as well as the industry best-practices,” he added.
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