Committee Secretary

Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport

Parliament House, Canberra

Dear Committee Secretary,

Re: Submission to Impact and mitigation of aircraft noise inquiry

My name is Martin Peelgrane and I live in Mudjimba, a suburb of approximately 600 dwellings on the Sunshine Coast, about 1 km from the southern end of Runway 1331 at the Sunshine Coast Airport (SCA).

I write to you as the President of the Mudjimba Residents Association (MRA), which has been in existence since 1960, and represents the interests of Mudjimba residents.

I am aged 73, a retired consulting civil engineer. I live in an apartment building at 15 Mudjimba Esplanade, 1.5 km from the end of Runway 1331. I have represented our Association on the Sunshine Coast Airport’s Community Aviation Forum for the last 10 years.

My apartment building is a concrete structure, 170 m west of the flightpath to Runway 1331. External noise levels at my apartment for jet aircraft landing on Runway 31 exceed 85 dBA. Internal noise levels, within sealed bedrooms and living areas, frequently exceed 65 dBA.

Over half of the homes in Mudjimba are within 1.5 km of Runway 1331. Many homes are simple one-story structures with single glazed windows, steel roofs and weatherboard external walls. Mudjimba homes closest to Runway 1331 have measured external noise levels exceeding 90 dBA, and internal noise levels over 80 dBA. These homes were built in the early 2000s, nearly 20 years before Runway 1331 became operational in June 2020.

The Sunshine Coast Airport is operated by the Sunshine Coast Airport Pty Ltd (SCAPL) and is currently receiving between 20 and 40 (RPT) flights a day. Our community has adapted to this frequency of flights as best it can, but still suffers from inconsiderate aviation practices.

During the daytime, the high aircraft noise levels have a significant impact on household activities such as conversation, study, work (from home), entertaining and recreation (TV). Residents adjust by simply ceasing to talk until they can be heard again. Some people are recording TV programs to avoid the disruption caused by aircraft noise.

However, it is at night when Mudjimba residents suffer the most.

While Airservices Australia’s Noise Abatement Procedure (NAP) restricts unauthorised use of the runway by RPT between 11pm and 530am, the SCAPL (which administers the NAP) admit they have never denied any request to land, or depart, between 11pm and 530am. Consequently, aircraft noise levels over 90 dBA from late night flights into, and out of, Sunshine Coast Airport has had a devastating impact on our community.

Residents, including children, are experiencing disruptions to sleep, study, mental health, physical health, anxiety (“how close was that plane to my roof?”),

Aircraft noise is a symptom of a deeper, structural problem in the aviation industry. Airservices Australia (ASA) is only serving the interests of their aviation customers and, seemingly, has no obligation to protect those residents trapped under their flightpaths.

Similarly, SCAPL has a duty to provide a financial return to their shareholders and to provide a service to their tenants but has no obligation to protect neighbouring communities. SCAPL administer the Noise Abatement Procedure for their airport. This is a complete conflict of interest and does nothing to achieve noise abatement for our community.

Airservices Australia recently conducted the Post Implementation Review (PIR) on the flightpaths into and out of SCA. In the spirit of community consultation, the MRA made a detailed submission, 6 Sep 2021 (attached) on the level of aircraft noise being experienced by Mudjimba residents (compared with the nearest homes 6.5 km to the north of the airport). In response to the PIR Final Report, we again wrote to Airservices Australia, 23 Sep 2023 (attached) requesting a modification to the NAP nominating the Preferred Runway as Runway 13. This would direct planes landing at night to approach over the empty cane fields to the north of the airport and not over Mudjimba homes to the south of the airport.

Disappointingly, Airservices Australia dismissed the request (indefinitely deferring any reconsideration of the NAP), clearly putting the interests of commercial flights (from southern ports) above the wellbeing of the residents of Mudjimba. The community engagement process offered by Airservices Australia was simply a “tick the box” exercise, with no real interest in listening objectively to the concerns of the community. In the absence of an effective NAP, the residents of Mudjimba need a curfew to ban late night flights.

The following points re ASA raised by BFPCA in their submission are especially relevant to Mudjimba.

1. Stonewalling complaints (arrogant and patronising replies)

2. Mental health impact (devastating to families under the flight path)

3. Capture by the aviation industry (not independent, not accountable)

4. Breach of the Air Services Act 1995.

There is little doubt that Airservices Australia, and airport owners and operators, collude to get the best outcomes for the aviation industry and do nothing to protect communities from the real-life consequences of their business objectives. These unscrupulous tactics are often more successful in rural and regional communities where small populations have few resources to fight against the interests of corporate aviation.

Australia needs better regulation of the aviation sector, particularly as it relates to the impacts on communities beside airports and flight paths. Airservices Australia must be restructured (financed directly by the Government) to ensure it is independent of the commercial interests of the airline industry and responds to community concerns.

Thank you for the opportunity to make our submission to the impact and mitigation of aircraft noise inquiry. Please feel free to contact me regarding this submission.

Sincerely,

Martin Peelgrane
President, Mudjimba Residents Association MUDJIMBA, QUEENSLAND
Email: mpeelgrane@hotmail.com Mob: 0419 719 119