'I want to get better armed for the battle': airport forum rallies locals to fight flight paths

The discussion panel at the Blue Mountains Theatre included Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill, Macquarie MP Susan Templeman, Alex Morabito of Marshall Day Acoustics, and Peter Dollin of Residents Against Western Sydney Airport (RAWSA).

Cr Greenhill stated the council's position, and said that there are only two cities in the world wholly enclosed in world heritage area, and the other city - Banff, in Canada - has laws preventing overhead aircraft noise.

"Banff... cannot have planes flying over it if they disturb wildlife, but we're going to have them day and night. And I say if it's good enough for Banff, it's good enough for the Blue Mountains world heritage area to be undisturbed by aircraft noise," he said.

"The difference between us and other areas is we are a world heritage area. That makes us different. Just like Banff is different, we are different. And there shouldn't be planes over a world heritage area, let alone 24/7.

"A curfew would be great, but a curfew isn't enough."

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Ms Templeman spoke to the importance of community response to the airport's upcoming Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), referencing her survey on flight path opinions.

"I quoted some of the comments in a speech in parliament last week... and some of it is really detailed and fantastic evidence for us to use, and I'll be using that to support the discussions that I will continue to have with decision makers moving forward.

"I want to get better armed for the battle that we have ahead of us so that we do get a better deal on flight paths."

Mr Dollin took to the stage to "bust myths" around the airport such as noise levels, saying jet engines will never sound similar to the noise descriptions provided in the government's flight tool.

"The noise guide tool is unfortunately deceptive... they label the noise impacts using unrelated noise sources," he said.

"It almost sounds pleasant. Who knew that jet aircraft overflies could sound like 'quiet libraries' and 'moderate rainfall'?"

The panel then engaged the audience, answering everything from technical questions on noise, to environmental concerns about fuel dumping, to queries about what can be done next.

In response to one audience question, Mr Morabito - who works at an acoustics consultancy - addressed the way that sound levels have been described in the online tool.

"I certainly am not necessarily a fan of the noise thermometer, [especially] for comparing noise sources such as conversation with aircraft," he said.

He said that previously he has seen aircraft noise likened to that of 'a bird chirping'.

"In my opinion they are certainly not comparable. While they are comparable in magnitude and absolute value, in terms of impact I wouldn't consider them to be [equivalent]."

Mr Morabito will be providing an independent review to support the council in preparing their position statement once the airport's EIS releases in the coming months.

The event, organised by Blue Mountains City Council, had begun with a presentation from Matt Shepherd, a consultant on the WSI airport project.

For more information visit: https://www.wsiflightpaths.gov.au/.