Aircraft noise over Delta is once again a growing concern.
That’s according to Mayor George Harvie who said at the May 30th council meeting that he is receiving a number of emails from concerned residents.
He noted representatives with the Vancouver Airport Authority have been requested to appear at an upcoming council meeting to explain the airport’s plans to return to pre-pandemic flight levels.
YVR recently installed two more permanent noise monitors in Ladner at Hawthorne Elementary and in North Delta at Sunshine Hills Elementary.
Delta made the request for the additional stations three years ago.
A Delta staff report notes that real-time noise data measured by the monitoring terminals is now displayed on YVR's WebTrak, an online tool for tracking aircraft in the Metro Vancouver airspace.
The monitoring terminals are to establish a baseline for aircraft noise over Ladner and North Delta and capture change over time as the airline industry emerges from the pandemic.
The airport has been managing 20 other noise monitoring terminals across Metro Vancouver, including three others in Delta at Delview Secondary, North Delta Recreation Centre and South Delta Secondary.
According to YVR’s 2021 Aeronautical Noise Management Report, the aviation industry last year continued to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At YVR, while air traffic levels started to gradually increase in the summer as some travel restrictions were relaxed and Canadian vaccination rates increased, it remained substantially reduced compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Despite the reduced traffic and a slow recovery, the airport authority remains committed to managing noise from aircraft and airport operations, the report notes.
The report said one individual from Surrey registered 84 per cent (1,727) of the total concerns received in 2021.
The airport authority last year also began a project to upgrade the hardware at the existing noise monitoring terminals as well as to expand the network by adding new terminals, part of its noise management plan.
YVR also notes it continues to support NAV CANADA on their Vancouver Airspace Modernization Project and that “NAV CANADA is committed to minimizing community noise impacts wherever possible during the design of new flight paths. NAV CANADA will undertake public consultation to solicit input into proposed designs, once their airspace design concepts are developed.”
The YVR 2037 Master Plan, a 20-year roadmap for the airport that has been approved by the federal government, projects aircraft movements over Tsawwassen would increase by more than 430 per cent.
According to a YVR report, Tsawwassen had 58 daily aircraft movements over the community in 2015, but by 2037, that number is expected to increase to 312 daily aircraft movements.
Meanwhile, North Delta would experience a 154 per cent increase by 2037.
