AMBERLEY AIRCRAFT NOISE COMMUNITY INFORMATION SESSION
Around 50 local residents attended a community information session last Thursday on a new military aircraft noise monitoring program for residents living close to RAAF Base Amberley.
The consultation session provided an opportunity for Defence officials to outline the program, gather residents’ feedback and set out a timetable for eligible households willing to participate.
Federal Member for Blair Shayne Neumann attended the forum and said it was a useful exercise to help locals learn more about the program and have their say on how it should operate.
“In the lead-up to the recent federal election, I was proud to announce a new noise management program for residents living around RAAF Base Amberley and the re-elected Albanese Government is committed to delivering this,” Mr Neumann said.
“Noise from air force jets, like the Super Hornets and Growlers, has been a big issue in this area and some long-term local residents have been calling for it to be addressed for several years.
“This information session was the first step in our consultations with local residents and other stakeholders as we work to develop a solution to excessive aircraft noise, and enhance RAAF Base Amberley’s social licence in our community.
“Defence is now calling for volunteers who would like to have noise monitoring and an initial inspection of their homes to help inform potential noise insulation measures, so I encourage anyone interested to contact Defence to sign up.”
The event was organised by the Department of Defence and held at West Moreton Anglican College in Karrabin, close to where many residents affected by excessive aircraft noise live.
Mr Neumann said that based on the results of the noise monitoring, Defence will develop options to provide financial support for residents affected by excessive aircraft noise to help cover the cost of noise amelioration measures in homes.
“We have seen similar programs like this operate around some civilian commercial airports, and provide for the installation of window glazing, for example,” he said.
“There are precedents for this, and what we are looking to do here is extend these to a military air base and deliver noise abatement measures as a pilot program to help improve residents’ quality of life.”
The program will focus on households located within the Australian Noise Exposure Forecast (ANEF) 30 contour for RAAF Base Amberley, and will aim to improve the accuracy of Defence’s existing data on aircraft noise in the area.
In addition to noise abatement measures, Defence will also investigate a new Defence noise model for military fast jets, and work with the Queensland Government and Ipswich City Council to explore new planning regulations to support better noise management.
RAAF Base Amberley is Defence’s largest operational air base, and home to the Royal Australian Air Force’s F/A-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler fleets.
Anyone who would like to volunteer, or has questions, can contact Defence on (02) 5108 6024 or at land.planning@defence.gov.au
Further information on Defence aircraft noise is available at: www.defence.gov.au/aircraftnoise
Further information on Defence’s aircraft noise monitoring program and the ANEF contour is available at: https://www.defence.gov.au/about/locations-property/aircraft-noise/noise-monitoring-reporting
