Essendon Airport curfew changes could allow planes to land late at night

JET planes as loud as 90 decibels would be able to fly over homes near Essendon airport at all hours under a set of proposals that have infuriated neighbouring residents.

JET planes as loud as 90 decibels would be able to fly over homes near Essendon airport at all hours under a set of proposals that have infuriated neighbouring residents.

The federal government is considering changes to the airport’s flight curfew, which limits activity from 11pm to 6am.

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The new rules would stop non-emergency helicopter and propeller aircraft landing during curfew hours but open up the runway to corporate jets late at night.

Planes would be banned from take-off during the curfew but landings would be permitted for jets that have an effective noise level of 90dB.

A motorcycle has a decibel reading of about 90dB from a distance of 7m while a freight train is believe to have a reading of 89dB from 15m away. The average human pain threshold is 110dB.

Residents have mobilised to fight the changes, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Wills MP Peter Khalil organising a forum that attracted more than 400 people.

Rick and Anne Arden are worried that the changes will disturb residents. Picture: Jay Town

Gowanbrae Residents Group secretary Rick Arden said the community had not been consulted.

“There has been a curfew for a long time and the only exceptions were emergency services,” he said.

“Now they want to add commercial flights that are really loud, but not excruciatingly loud.

“We’re going to be woken up at night. They have a five-year consultation plan for changes to the airport and they just ignored that and pushed this through.”

Macca’s view

Moonee Valley Mayor, Cr Andrea Surace, said the council supported the limit on ­helicopters and propeller aircraft.

“However, it is just one of three proposed curfew changes being put on the table and we are concerned that the department has not provided enough information for either council or the community to justify the other two amendments at this stage,” she said.

Cr Surace said there were concerns about the proposal to lift the weight limit for jets from 45,000kg to 55,000kg.

Essendon airport CEO Chris Cowan said modern jets were quieter than most propeller aircraft and the changes would add 100 corporate jet movements a year during curfew hours.

“What the proposed curfew changes recognise is the operators of corporate jets require the ability to fly anywhere and any time to simply operate their business,” he said.

“The current curfew doesn’t even provide the community with protection by capping movements or noise limits.

“We believe the changes will result in less noise and fewer aircraft movements.”

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