Aircraft noise maps published

The Government has today published up-to-date noise maps for all of the country's major airports, including Heathrow.

The maps were drawn up during 2006/7, which is a big improvement on the noise data contained in the Heathrow consultation papers which dates from 1980. They also include a night-flights noise map.

But before you get too excited by these new maps, you'll actually be hard pressed to spot much difference between the old and new maps: they still only contour noise down to 50 decibels, which results in the vast majority of Putney apparently not being affected by aircraft noise.

This goes to the whole problem of how noise nuisance is measured. The recent ANASE noise study that was controversially not used in the Heathrow consultation argues that while air traffic has become quieter, intolerance of noise has risen; that there is no particular boundary where people suddenly start to notice aircraft noise and complain about it.

This makes sense to me. Irrespective of whether planes are quieter, they are still incredibly loud at the level of descent they are at over our area. To be really of use, I'd like to see noise contour maps that measure the area affected by 45 and 40 decibel aircraft noise - an area certain to cover pretty much the whole of Wandsworth, I suspect.

The argument in favour of retaining the 55dBa contour is that if there is no specific level (or "logical threshold" in government-speak) where noise becomes a real problem there is no reason to use noise contours as a means of containing noise from Heathrow - and removing the 55dBa contour axes what little protection we locally get from the current noise framework.

My view is that this debate is a red-herring: regardless of whether noise contours or a more subtle measurement of noise disturbance is used it is clear that 55dBa represents too big an intrusion into peoples' lives locally. My priority is reducing noise over Putney, however the government chooses to meaure it.

The new maps and other information can be found on the Department of Environment & Rural Affairs website.