A huge crowd gathered in Forrest Little Golf Club this week to discuss the growing concerns around airport noise and pollution in Swords.
Additional seating was needed to cater for attendees who listened to presentations on the impact of aircraft noise, the planning issue surrounding the new north runway, and the campaign to date.
The presentations were given by members of the St Margaret’s The Ward Residents Group who are campaigning against the breach of planning which has happened since the opening of the new North Runway last year.
Residents from Ridgewood, Boroimhe, Rivervalley and across Swords, told of the impact of both aircraft noise and jet fumes, which locals experience on a near daily basis.
The meeting was organised by Swords Councillors with a view to hearing first hand the experiences of local residents since the new runway opened last summer.
Cllr Ian Carey said:
“I was sorry to hear so many people from the South Swords area speak of the impact of noise and pollution. It was particularly shocking to hear how many were smelling jet fumes really regularly. We have no idea what this is doing to people and what is safe and what is not. We have an obligation to start monitoring this and letting people know what the risks are.
“One thing that was postive about the meeting was the focus on solutions. It is clear that there are a number of measurs that the airport could take to cut down on the impact of noise and pollution in the Swords area.
- Firstly they need to explore the effectiveness of a sound barrier at the point where aircraft are taking off. This works in other countries and can certainly work here.
- We also need to look at how we can share take offs between the north and south runways.
- If we could get a more even distrubiton between the two then we chould HALVE the noise and pollution exposure in Swords. We also need to look at pilot behaviour – where they start from, how much thrust they use, the speed, use of reverse thrusters, etc.
- And lastly we need to make sure there are permanent noise and pollution monitors in South Swords and a way for local people to access that information regularly.
Sadly these measures are not something that the DAA are just going to accept. We will need to build popular support for these demands and bring this into a programme for government, to develop the laws that can make this happen.”
