Last night saw a large number of people attend an Emergency Meeting to update local residents in south Meath and The Ward, following the decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála, that has granted planning permission to the daa to increase the number of flights from approximately 65 per night to 95 flights per night. A meeting was organised by SMTW Forum for the residents of those affected by aircraft noise from Dublin Airport. The meeting was held at the Coolquoy Lodge.
The meeting went into detail as to how things stand at the moment, with the only way forward to bring a Judicial Review in the High Court to challenge the decision of An Coimisiún Pleanála. There was general consensus among the audience that it was the only way forward. However, this will come at a cost to the families living under the stress of noise pollution and the long term effects of living, or trying to live a normal life. The SMTW Forum has secured the services of a legal team prepared to take on the case. Individuals will have to put their hands in their pockets to fund the action. Some have described it ”as the last throw of the dice.”
Meath Live has spoken to a number of people at the meeting, to get a feel of the reality of the lives they live. One person told us when they originally built their house. They made a point to check out if there were any future plans for flight paths over their new home. The Fingal council told them not to concern themselves with that issue. The irony was, they had hoped to build on the original flight paths that are now ignored. They built the house and all was good, then just around three years ago, a plane flew over the house. They were told by the daa, it was only temporary but that was just the start. ”You just cannot live a normal life or enjoy your home, the garden, sleep and all you have worked for.”
Another family told us, ”we checked it out (the planning), to make sure we could have a nice house.” They have approached the daa and are still waiting for assessment but feel you have no choice but to accept what sound proofing is offered. They will do the best they can, but it is far from acceptable. Where else do you go?”
The last family, Meath Live spoke to ”describe the noise as nearly impossible to live there.” This family bought a house nearly ten years ago then decided to do a rebuild, and went through three years of construction through the Covid pandemic. All was well, until the north runway opened and it was a transformation into a living hell and trying to live a normal life is no longer possible. They have young children, when the weather is hot and the windows open” you can’t get the kids to bed with the noise.” They themselves stay up until the last flight is scheduled. Again if they had known about the flight paths, they would have thought differently.
The other issue that is hard for all of the families to contend with is, that the planning did not take into consideration the long term affects of excessive noise on one’s health. There is ”indisputable evidence” , The WHO (World health Organsation) has information based on studies in 2018 that confirm the effects of noise pollution. Under EU levels the level is set at 55 decibels at night, 65 decibels at day. ”People don’t realise the effects, even in their sleep” they pointed out.
Another family living and farming in the locality are struggling through. One of them ” felt genuine sadness at the meeting but they had to fight on. ”It’s like we are the small man against the establishment who have taken away our basic human rights.”
They too point out, that in the granting of permission, An Coimisiún Pleanála, ”never took any health issues into account and the harm on sleep deprivation.” Also drawn to our attention that when you’re out on the farm you are actively breathing the fumes of the aviation fuel. ”on cold and frosty days you can physically see the pollution on the ground as it freezes.” They are at their wits end and ”it’s getting to the stage where you say, we need to move, where do you go, and the price of housing continues to spiral upwards.”
What effect is it having on the valuation of people’s property, their health and their lives ?
Finally, the thoughts come back to them, as to why did the daa not stick to the original planning as granted, if the planes had kept to the flight paths, we wouldn’t be in the situation we find ourselves now. The irony is that there are houses that have been sound proofed on the original planning proposed. The belief in the community and these families, is that the daa have been allowed to flout the law of the land, for the greater good of the country, the economy and big business, let the little man suffer!
Above picture; The large number of people who attended the meeting on Thursday.
