While Brimbank City Council is disappointed with the Federal Government’s decision to approve the Third Runway without first having commissioned an independent health impact assessment, we note that some important conditions have been imposed to help protect communities from aircraft noise.
Brimbank is keen to understand the details of the conditional approval before it can be comfortable with the decision, particularly as Melbourne Airport’s previous plans did not include adequate protection from the adverse impacts of aircraft noise on local communities.
Brimbank appreciates that Minister King has taken the time to listen to the City of Brimbank’s concerns and worked to find a way to manage the impacts of aircraft noise from the Third Runway. Brimbank has for many years advocated strongly for the Federal Government to consider the health impacts of a third runway on our residents. We have met with Minister King on several occasions, hosted and participated in various community events, provided numerous submissions to government and raised the matter on multiple occasions at the National General Assembly of the Australian Local Government Association.
One of the government’s conditions is that the airport works on restoring the east-west runway to its full length and maximises its use at the same time as it builds the Third Runway. This is a welcome requirement, as it will help with noise sharing instead of imposing most of the noise on communities to the north and south of the airport.
Council has questions about the scope of the Minister's conditions, how they will be enforced and the timelines by which Melbourne Airport needs to put them in place, as these are the factors that will make all the difference to whether the mitigation measures are successful in minimising the anticipated health impacts.
Quotes to be attributed to Brimbank Mayor Cr Ranka Rasic:
“Council’s key priority is to make sure the Third Runway does not compromise the health, wellbeing and amenity of the community. It is encouraging to see that our advocacy has resulted in the Federal Government imposing conditions on Melbourne Airport, but we are concerned these conditions are not yet firmly detailed and may not go far enough in mitigating noise and health impacts.
“Our community is looking for iron clad guarantees and work completed or underway on amelioration measures before the Third Runway opens for business.
“We are concerned the Minister is leaving these protections to Melbourne Airport, which has not prioritised protecting communities from adverse aircraft noise impacts in the past and has a poor track record of responding to concerns from local communities.
“We need details of the measures, and surety that they will protect our community against the impacts to their health and amenity.
“Brimbank Council looks forward to seeing the full details of the Minister’s conditional approval, and the Major Development Plan when it is released. We will continue to call for a seat at the table to discuss how our community should be engaged and listened to on this project.”
Additional information:
In 2022, Council’s Submission opposing the Draft Melbourne Airport 2022 Master Plan and Preliminary Draft Major Development Plan for the Third Runway, identified a wide range of potential issues and impacts, such as to Health (Noise and Public Safety); Air Quality; Compensation, Human Rights, Public Safety Areas, Access, Environment, Economic Development, Statutory Planning; and Community Engagement.
Based on the findings of an independent health risk assessment commissioned by Council, we have actively opposed the Third Runway due to the unreasonable and unacceptable health risks posed to the Brimbank community.