Members of the public in the gallery at yesterday's WDC meeting to discuss moving Northland Rescue Helicopter base to Whangārei Airport at Onerahi. Photo / Susan Botting
Members of the public in the gallery at yesterday's WDC meeting to discuss moving Northland Rescue Helicopter base to Whangārei Airport at Onerahi. Photo / Susan Botting
Hundreds of houses around Whangārei Airport could end up with subsidised sound protection to mitigate the impacts of increased noise from the potential arrival of Northland's rescue helicopter base - but the question is, who pays?
Housing insulation and ventilation for homes affected by the extra new noise produced from the potential shift of the Kensington Northland Emergency Services Trust (NEST) helicopter base to Onerahi were among future options on the table at a Whangārei District Council (WDC) airport noise committee meeting yesterday.
WDC general manager planning and development Dominic Kula said a key question was who would pay for the noise mitigation work.
Talking through airport helicopter noise production management at yesterday's meeting - from left Jade Williams, Gary Staples, Mike Chubb and Whangārei Mayor Sheryl Mai. Photo / Susan Botting
The NEST shift would mean the sudden arrival of about 1300 helicopter flights annually in and out of the airport at Onerahi, with the operation increasing in size each year.
Kula said the extra costs of shifting from Kensington to Onerahi were in fact technically NEST's responsibility. WDC would be looking at who paid - NEST, the council, the Government and/or homeowners.
Trust founder and Kensington resident Roger de Bray and wife Ruth in April last year were forced to spend $4000 on new ceiling noise insulation for their home, and also installed soundproof window glass, to try to shut out the noise from NEST's existing base across the road.
New noise production mapping for Whangārei Airport. Image / Susan Botting
A three-hour airport noise committee meeting yesterday thrashed out potential options to mitigate or reduce the impact of extra noise produced from any potential NEST shift.
Working out exactly how many homes around the airport would be likely affected by extra helicopter noise - and the amount of helicopter noise to use as an eligibility guide – were among mooted meeting follow-ups. Ensuring equity for those involved was seen as important.
Wellington airport has a quiet homes programme where home owners within the airport's noise boundaries are offered a subsidised noise mitigation package at up to 100 per cent cost to reduce aircraft noise to 45 decibels (dB) of average combined day and night noise to be produced per 24 hours.
The 24-hour period is averaged over three months.
WDC noise modelling consultant Steve Peakall said the mitigation had been brought in for Wellington airport neighbours living with greater noise impacts than would be the case for Onerahi neighbours with the NEST helicopters' potential introduction. But it was definitely still worth looking at what mitigation along these lines could be done for affected airport neighbours.
Containers stacked around helicopter take-off and landing zones were suggested by some in yesterday's committee workshopping. However, others said they were a definite no-no.
Solid shielding walls around high airport noise production areas have also been put on the mitigation radar. Kula said the walls would likely have visual impacts for those nearby that would need consideration. Shielding walls would need to go through a resource consenting process. Their height would also be a flight consideration.
Extra buildings, such as the new airport fire service building to be built, were another noise mitigation option.
NEST pilot Steve Couchman at Thursday's meeting. Photo / Susan Botting
NEST pilot Steve Couchman said the trust had already ensured, in preparation for a potential Onerahi shift, that it more than met all noise control requirements outlined in the airport noise management plan. He said NEST had also developed extra, more robust approaches to further mitigate noise over and above plan requirements. This work was based on localising the international voluntary community noise reduction programme Fly Neighbourly.
Couchman said NEST could more than meet the airport noise management limitations as outlined. NEST has agreed to shift its training programme away from the airport site as part of reducing the amount of noise it produces. It said it would carry the availability risk created by doing so and having to get helicopters from its Kerikeri training location for emergency callouts. The training shift would remove 30 hours of helicopter activity from Onerahi airport each year.
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