Heathrow’s third runway has caused considerable controversy and it looks like community groups suspect that noise compensation won’t add up to as much as they were told when plans were unveiled.
Living close to a busy airport like Heathrow inevitably means much greater exposure to noise than the general population with huge numbers of flights arriving and taking off each year. According to measurements, households located within the noisiest zone close to the airport will be exposed 60 dB between 7 am and 11pm.
To compensate, those responsible for the expansion of the airport Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) have offered to cover the cost of sound insulation to reduce noise exposure from the third runway. What is unclear is just how many houses will qualify for help with noise insulation and what happens to those households that fall outside of immediate boundaries.
Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) has put aside a total of £700 million to cover noise compensation and sound insulation of homes however this is unlikely to cover all of the compensation costs and insulation package being offered to residents.
While the economic benefits of the third runway will be huge for the national economy, it appears that some locals will need to look at noise reduction measures themselves to reduce its impact on quality of life.