Airport Director Weiß: Noise cap correct, but non-binding - Offenbach calls for reduction of "protection zones"
09.11.2017 – Offenbach City Councillor Paul-Gerhard Weiß, who is responsible for aircraft noise, describes the upper noise limit (LOG) presented by Hessian Minister of Economics Tarek Al-Wazir as "the right approach". Although this will not reduce the current noise, it is intended to cap the permissible increase and promote active noise protection.
This takes up a long-standing demand of the local authorities, which was also part of the outcome of the mediation on the expansion of Frankfurt Airport. 17 years after the end of the mediation process and six years after the north-west runway went into operation, the state government attempted to implement this demand in an agreement with the aviation industry.
The LOG agreement stipulates that the continuous noise level should be capped at 1.8 decibels below the originally forecast noise level for 700,000 aircraft movements and should therefore only increase to a limited extent even if traffic increases - there are currently around 470,000 aircraft movements at Frankfurt Airport.
No legally binding regulations or sanctions
However, Councillor Weiß remains unclear as to how this target can be achieved in the event of a significant increase in flight movements. The agreement also does not provide for any legally binding regulations or sanctions if the upper limit is breached. "There are qualitative differences between the legally established planning approval and the honorably agreed measure of a noise cap," emphasizes Weiß. Only time will tell how "firm" the voluntary agreement between the state of Hesse and the aviation industry really is.
Today, it is expected that this situation will occur in ten to 15 years. By then, none of the people involved today will probably have anything to do with the agreement. While Fraport would then still be able to invoke the legally binding planning approval, those affected by the noise would then have no more in their hands than a regulation voluntarily agreed by their predecessors or even predecessors.
Weiß pleads for adjustment of the protection zones
Weiß also calls for the protection zones to be adapted to the changed values: the protection zones determine the areas in which no new buildings for schools or apartments may be constructed due to aircraft noise. If the noise is really to be 1.8 decibels lower than forecast when the airport is at full capacity, the protection zones, which are actually only no-build zones, would also have to be reduced accordingly. These are not based on the current noise level, but on the predicted noise level at 700,000 aircraft movements. As the protection zone ordinance is to be reviewed by law in 2021 anyway, the protection zones should be adjusted in accordance with the agreement reached by then at the latest.
Large areas of the city of Offenbach would fall out of day protection zone 2. Currently, no schools or kindergartens may be built or expanded in this zone, for example. "At present, the city has to beg for exemptions in each individual case, which is becoming increasingly difficult," says Weiß. A reduction of the settlement restriction zone in regional planning would then also be necessary. "Otherwise, it will feed doubt that the goals can be achieved."