A controversial shake-up of Sydney Airport’s flight paths has sparked fears it will worsen aircraft noise for tens of thousands of residents in the city’s inner and south-western suburbs and has led to demands for more detail about the plans.
The major changes to Sydney Airport’s flight paths are required to make room for planes flying in and out of the city’s new international airport at Badgerys Creek, which is due to open in two years.
Some inner west suburbs will cop more planes flying overhead from the changes to flight paths.Credit: Steven Siewert
Under the plans, jet aircraft bound for the east, which take off from Sydney Airport’s main north-south runway, will curve further westwards immediately after departing before heading over the northern beaches as they follow an arc-like path.
Inner West Council says an increase in flights over Dulwich Hill, Summer Hill, Ashfield, and Croydon can be expected but warns that a draft assessment of preliminary flight paths for Western Sydney Airport fails to detail the magnitude of the changes to Sydney’s airspace.
The council “strongly objects” to the proposed alterations and is demanding a comprehensive assessment of the impacts on residents. It argues in a submission to the federal government that a reduced geographic dispersion of flights runs counter to Sydney Airport’s established noise-sharing arrangements.
However, western Sydney councils say the new airport’s 24-hour operation from 2026 means their residents will miss out on the protections from aircraft noise that people in the city’s east get at night from a government-mandated curfew on Kingsford Smith Airport from 11pm to 6am.
As part of the changes, aircraft departing westwards from Sydney Airport’s east-west runway, which is used much less than the two north-south runways, will turn right at 1500 feet to climb over Belmore and Lidcombe.
Canterbury-Bankstown Council warns that this will result in a concentration of planes over Campsie, Belfield, Clemton Park and Belmore, as well as north of Lakemba, Greenacre and Chullora.
The council adds that the changes to departures from the main north-south runway will also lead to a greater concentration of flights to the north of Croydon Park, Ashbury and Hurlstone Park.
Those suburbs, along with Riverwood, Padstow, Revesby Heights, and Picnic Point, could also experience an increased frequency of planes flying over ahead as they prepare to land at Sydney Airport, the council says.
Western Sydney Airport is due to open to passengers in 2026.Credit: Wolter Peeters
It argues the environmental assessment’s scope is “limited and ultimately flawed” because it is determined by documents that “are silent on facilitated changes to existing flight paths at Sydney Airport and Bankstown airports”.
The preliminary flight paths for Western Sydney Airport, released last June, revealed that houses near Greendale, Luddenham and Twin Creeks will be hit the hardest by noise from the new airport.
The draft assessment showed that fewer than 100 properties near the new curfew-free airport at Badgerys Creek, about 45 kilometres from Sydney’s CBD, will be eligible for free insulation from the government to reduce aircraft noise in their homes and businesses.
Wollondilly Shire Council, which covers areas close to the new airport such as Silverdale, wants the number of homes eligible for noise insulation to be increased. Only a small part of Wollondilly falls within the area eligible for noise insulation, even though the southern part of Silverdale could experience more than 100 flights a day.
It has joined other western Sydney councils in pushing for the new airport to have the same curfew regime as Sydney Airport, arguing that residents in the inner-city and eastern suburbs will have greater protections from aircraft noise than those near the new international airport.
“The flight paths are designed ultimately to protect Sydney Airport. This double standard equates to little more than discrimination against Western Sydney and surrounds,” it says in a submission to the federal government’s flight path assessment.
Blue Mountains Council, which has campaigned against the airport for years, says the assessment fails to properly take account of the area’s world heritage status, adding that the 24-hour airport will result in a major increase in planes flying overhead.
It says the lack of a curfew is “nothing short of discrimination” against western Sydney, which will result in disruptions at night for residents that those in eastern parts of the city are protected from.
Penrith Council warns aircraft noise will disrupt residents of a large swathe of its local government area, including St Clair, Erskine Park, Orchard Hills and Claremont, who have yet to be notified of the potential disruption over the long term.
It says about 900 properties – most of which are at St Clair – will be ineligible for noise insulation from the federal government under the compensation plans despite them being at risk of high levels of aircraft noise.