‘People feel pretty desperate’: Survey finds Brisbane’s aircraft noise getting worse
More people are suffering impacts from aircraft noise now than before a trial of new flight procedures began, a survey has found. The findings come after the air traffic controllers’ union said less noisy flight paths could take 12 months to introduce.
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A survey of 1600 Brisbane residents under or near the city’s new flight paths say they are suffering more now than before a trial to lessen noise.
Nine out of 10 of the respondents said their sleep was disturbed and 75 per cent reported mental stress, up from 68 per cent before the trial started in February.
Federal regulator Airservices Australia (ASA) has been conducting Noise Improvement Trials, which include making planes use the full length of the two runways before taking off.
Takeoffs were also supposed to be steeper. And simultaneous approaches and takeoffs, in opposite directions, were to be trialled for at least two hours on weekends.
Residents’ lobby group, Brisbane Flight Paths Community Alliance (BFPCA), said its survey had been running only two weeks but already had 1600 responses.
Spokesman David Diamond said its previous survey in late 2020 attracted about 2500 responses over six weeks.
“People are feeling pretty desperate. Their mental health is getting worse because they see no end in sight,’’ Mr Diamond said.
“As election night looms, both major parties appear to be content to let the community continue to bear the brunt of the currently disastrous flight path design.’’
But an ASA spokeswoman said it was “committed to considering opportunities for improved noise outcomes for the Brisbane community and to progressing those options that are assessed as safe and feasible in consultation with community and industry’’.
“Curfews and regulatory changes are not within Airservices’ remit,’’ she said.
“Trax International has released an Interim Report identifying a range of potential short, medium, and long-term improvement opportunities.
“These opportunities are now being reviewed in more detail.
“Trax will hold community workshops in June to seek feedback to support the development of its final report.”
A BAC spokesman said it acknowledged aircraft noise was a genuine issue for some residents living under flight paths.
“We are sorry that it can cause some people distress,’’ he said.
“One of the best ways to reduce aircraft noise for residents who live under the flight paths is to increase the number of flights that arrive and depart over Moreton Bay.
“BAC wants to see more flights over the Bay and is working with Airservices Australia to explore options that would allow more planes to depart and land over the Bay.
“We fully support Airservices Australia’s decision to engage airspace design experts Trax International to identify opportunities to increase over the Bay departures and arrivals, among other improvements.’’
Mr Diamond said the level of impact on Brisbane residents, across 37 postcodes, was unacceptable and strong evidence of the need for a curfew similar to that at Sydney airport.
“In the 2020 survey 68 per cent of people reported mental distress from aircraft noise – that figure has jumped to over 75 per cent in 2022,’’ he said.
“I’d put this down to the increased number of flights since 2020 now that there are no longer Covid travel restrictions.
“This is highly concerning and ought to be an issue that the politicians of all parties and all levels of government take seriously.
“Unfortunately neither of the major parties seem to be promising anything in the coming election that will make an immediate and significant difference.
“Given the high number of people reporting mental distress at current levels I think there is a strong argument for there to be flight caps in Brisbane – similar to those at other international and Australian airports such as Sydney, Adelaide, Essendon and Gold Coast.”
The survey comes after air traffic controllers’ union Civil Air Australia claimed it could take up to a year to implement new flight paths and other changes promised recently by LNP candidate for the federal seat of Brisbane, Trevor Evans.
Mr Evans’ electorate has been one of the worst affected by noise since the second runway opened in mid-2020.
He promised a re-elected LNP Government would implement the findings of an international consultancy firm which recommended, among other changes, steeper approaches and takeoffs for planes and more over-the-Bay flights.
But Civil Air said there was a staffing crisis in the Brisbane air traffic control centre, which handles five per cent of the world’s air movements and a huge area from Indonesia and PNG to the Tasman Sea off New Zealand.
Civil Air president Tom McRobert estimated it could take from three months, to as long as 12 months, to implement the new flight paths.
Brisbane Airport Corporation said the issue was a matter for federal regulator Airservices Australia (ASA).
ASA denied there was a staffing problem.
“Airservices Australia is not short-staffed in Brisbane or in any other location,’’ a spokeswoman said.
“We have sufficient air traffic controllers to manage the airspace around Brisbane, operate Brisbane Tower and undertake project work like developing flight path simulations as required.”
Mr McRobert said as well as community consultation, air traffic controllers needed to be retrained and new simulator models had to be built.
“We need more staff now. We can’t release people from the console to train up on new flight paths or train new staff,’’ he said.
“A review of the air space is probably a good thing, it’s just it would be a difficult logistical exercise to get all that done.
“We would have to rely on a lot of overtime being done, but people are not as prepared to do that as they used to be.’’
At the moment noise is not a factor Brisbane controllers have to take into account, unlike on the Gold Coast.
Mr McRobert said he was not blaming ASA and conceded it was impossible to predict what would happen with air movements near the start of the pandemic.
At the time 125 air traffic controllers around the country volunteered for early retirement, although the exodus had been staggered and many were still on the job.
Brisbane had more older, experienced controllers so more were eligible for the retirement scheme, with about 30 putting their hands up.
The staff shortage was exacerbated by Covid illnesses and isolation rules, as well the opening up of travel overseas which had seen some controllers leave the country for new jobs.
It emerged last month that air traffic controllers were regularly being forced to close airspace because of staff shortages.
Since February, there have been more than 127 instances of airspace and air traffic tower closures around the country, compared with 107 for the whole of 2021.
About 10 per cent of the workforce, or 130 air traffic controllers aged 56 and over, had accepted packages worth between $300,000 and $400,000.
In one week in March, the Brisbane-based air traffic control group handling incoming flights clocked 67 hours of overtime due to understaffing and the unavailability of reserve staff.
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