Housing: Airports

(asked on 12th April 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish his Department's policy on new homes being built near to existing airports; and what assessment he has made of the compatibility of that policy with the Government's aim to reduce the number of people significantly affected by aircraft noise.


Answered by
Christopher Pincher Portrait
Christopher Pincher
This question was answered on 20th April 2021

It is for local authorities to determine the most appropriate location for new housing, and they should do this having regard to the local circumstances that they know best. However, in determining the most appropriate locations, the National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that planning decisions and policies should avoid noise giving rise to significant adverse effects on health and quality of life.

In a situation where new homes are proposed near an airfield, and therefore could be affected by noise from air traffic, the Framework’s ’agent of change’ principle makes clear that the applicant ’or ‘agent of change' should be required to provide suitable mitigation to address adverse effects of noise. This principle is in place to avoid unreasonable restrictions being placed on existing facilities.

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