City of Offenbach is concerned about the compatibility of urban development and aircraft noise protection
14.09.2018 – Paul-Gerhard Weiß, Head of the Airport Department, traveled to Berlin for the hearing on the amendment of the Aircraft Noise Protection Act in the Bundestag to make Offenbach's position heard.
As a growing regional center in the Rhine-Main region, the city of Offenbach suffers from the nearby Frankfurt Airport in two ways: its population lives under an ever-expanding carpet of noise, while the building restrictions imposed by aircraft noise jeopardize future urban development. Exemptions for new school and nursery locations, as well as social facilities, are no longer planned if the amendment to the Aircraft Noise Protection Act is passed in its current form. Together with airport consultant Dieter Faulenbach da Costa, City Councillor Paul-Gerhard Weiß traveled to Berlin this week to make Offenbach's position heard. Both represented the city at the hearing of the German Aircraft Noise Protection Commissions and particularly affected municipalities on the amendment of the Aircraft Noise Protection Act. The hearing was organized by the Aircraft Noise Working Group in the German Bundestag.
Before the hearing, the participants had organized a small demonstration in front of the Bundestag to emphasize their demands. "We expressly welcome the planned lowering of the values that justify an entitlement to passive noise protection. This would relieve more people in Offenbach. However, the stricter limits in the noise protection zones must not result in further building restrictions for local authorities," said Paul-Gerhard Weiß, Head of Department for the Airport Working Group and for Urban Planning and Education, summarizing Offenbach's position in the Bundestag.
According to Weiß, the planned revision of the law is urgently needed: "Currently, aircraft noise is being protected rather than the people affected." The Aircraft Noise Protection Act, which came into force in 2007, does not limit noise, but is limited to defining so-called "protection zones" in which there are financial entitlements to passive noise protection - i.e. structural insulation and noise protection windows. This is linked to strict building restrictions for the affected municipalities. "As a result, we are no longer allowed to build or expand daycare centers, schools, universities, hospitals or retirement homes in 80 percent of the urban area. We can't live with that."
Weiß made it clear in Berlin that the law must now give priority to active noise protection - i.e. real noise reduction in flight operations - over passive noise protection. Real noise limits that must not be exceeded should also be defined. "This is the only way to provide real relief for the many people affected in the Rhine-Main region and in our city in particular." In addition, an automatism that is already problematic for urban development today and will make new projects de facto impossible in the future must be ended: "The desirable extension of financial entitlements for those affected by noise must no longer be automatically linked to further planning restrictions or building bans for local authorities. These aspects must be regulated separately." Weiß hopes that the clearly expressed position of Offenbach and other municipalities will be taken into account in further consultations.
Faulenbach da Costa made it clear that building and planning bans should not be rejected in principle: "If you are building a new airport on a greenfield site, it makes sense not to populate the noisy areas. However, if the settlements already existed beforehand, they should be protected from the noise and not the other way around. In addition, the affected communities must have a chance to develop and fulfill their various tasks."
Don't let the exception become the rule
With an average population age of 41, Offenbach is a young city and is experiencing strong growth due to the ubiquitous migration to metropolitan areas. However, 80 percent of the settlement area is already located in so-called "noise protection zones", in which, for example, the construction and expansion of noise-sensitive facilities such as schools, daycare centers and nursing homes is prohibited or only possible with special permission. There are 256 vulnerable or noise-sensitive facilities in Offenbach, 237 of which are located within the protection zones.
"This," explains Paul-Gerhard Weiß, "counteracts Offenbach's positioning as a young city with good educational opportunities." There is currently a shortage of two elementary school and one grammar school, and the expansion and extension of existing schools is currently only possible with special permits.
In any case, Weiß continues, the regional planning is no longer coherent: The region is growing at the same time as air traffic is increasing, so politicians need to sharpen their focus on the region's needs: "We are currently muddling through with exemptions. But if these become the rule, which is actually the case in Offenbach to safeguard urban development and supply the population, the precautionary concept of the law to protect against aircraft noise will be pushed back. That is why the 'Balacend Approach' must finally become the basis of the law." This provides for a balanced combination of airport planning, airport operations, noise protection and settlement requirements in such a way that the primary goal for everyone is to ensure that settlement areas are no longer exposed to noise that is hazardous to health.