Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to produce noise assessments to reflect the best and worst case scenarios that may be created by expansion at Heathrow in terms of a) numbers of people exposed to noise b) number of people currently overflown who will experience an increase in noise and c) the number of people who will be newly exposed to aircraft noise pollution.

As part of the department’s review of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) it commissioned the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to model expected impacts of aircraft noise for an expanded Heathrow. Outputs of this work are set out in an annex to the Appraisal of Sustainability published on 18 June as part of the public consultation on the draft revised ANPS, renamed the Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement (HENPS). This sets out estimates of the numbers of people exposed to different levels of aircraft noise before and after expansion.

The CAA modelling focused on the estimated total number of people impacted rather than distinguishing between individuals currently overflown who may experience increased noise exposure and those who may become newly affected. Results disaggregated to this level of detail are not currently available. As part of the consultation process, the department will keep under review if any further aircraft noise modelling is necessary.