Brisbane Airport noise to be monitored under Labor

Noise from the Brisbane Airport would be monitored by a “permanent and independent” forum under a Labor Government, the party has pledged.

Noise from the Brisbane Airport would be monitored by a “permanent and independent” forum, Labor’s transport spokeswoman Catherine King will announce today.

The forum will also review runway usage and have the power to direct Airservices Australia to minimise overall noise from the operations.

It follows the Coalition setting up a temporary forum in September last year, which made a range of recommendations.

These included a trial which would see planes diverted over Moreton Bay away from residential areas, aircraft having to hit higher altitudes at departure and stricter flight path rules.

Airport noise has been a growing issue for some Brisbane residents since the opening of the second runway.

Ms King said the forum should be permanent, similar to the model used in Sydney.

“If Labor is successful at the next election, we will act to fix these issues,” Ms King said.

“We will take the next step of making that forum permanent and

independent and we will ensure Airservices actually measures the noise that locals have to put up with, whether from the new runway or the legacy runway.

“The improved community consultation body will be empowered to advise the government on noise issues, as well as allowing the community to come together to directly engage with the operators of the airport and Airservices Australia.

Shadow Minister for infrastructure, transport and regional development Catherine King. Picture: AAP Image/James Ross

She said a Labor Government would also commission a new white paper to take a co-ordinated look at the national aviation policy framework.

Meanwhile, a manual instructing staff on how to deal with complaints about plane noise has revealed the public is being deliberately stonewalled, a community group says.

The manual instructs the seven Airservices Australia (ASA) staff tasked with handling all of the country’s aircraft noise complaints to not bother reading emails from people who lodge repeated complaints.

They are instructed to tell repeat complainants to call or email ASA no more than once a month.

And if a member of the public continues to lodge complaints, staff can put them on a “management plan’’.

That allows staff to put time limits on calls, delete further submissions without reading them and refuse to answer questions that have previously been answered.

But an ASA spokeswoman said it took all feedback “very seriously’’ and was “committed to continuous improvement’’.“Our commitment is to ensure our engagement with communities who may be affected by aircraft noise and changes to flight paths and airspace is proactive, open, and transparent,’’ she said.

Originally published as Brisbane Airport noise to be monitored under Labor