Project Areas
Western Sydney Airport
The new Western Sydney Airport was announced by the Abbott government in April 2014 after decades of indecision over the preferred site. The announced site was at Badgerys Creek where land had been purchased by the Commonwealth for this purpose between 1986 and 1991. The 1700 hectare site is 44 kilometres west of Sydney CBD and wholly within Liverpool City Council but proximate to parts of both Penrith and Fairfield local government areas.
A new airport is a large piece of infrastructure and an enormous shaper of place as roads, railways, industrial zones, employment and residential areas are accommodated in relation to it.
Although it may not be immediately obvious, health will also be shaped by the airport. Beyond the important considerations of noise pollution and air pollution there may be employment and opportunity costs associated with mal-development around the site especially from decisions about transport and connection to other amenities and services.
There is an opportunity for health in this development phase to articulate relevant health concerns to both optimise potential positive impacts on health and mitigate any negative consequences.
Population health in South Western Sydney has chosen to devote some of its resources to examining this and has developed three streams of work as detailed below.
- A health impact assessment of the Community Engagement Process
- Developing a vision for a healthy airport
- Protecting the health of residents
Environmental Impact Statement
An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Airport Plan were released for public exhibition on 19 October 2015. The development is regulated under the federal Airports Act 1996 and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Submissions closed 18 December 2015. A response to submissions and a finalised EIS taking into consideration these responses is expected in mid-2016.
The EIS provided important starting information about the proposed airport including the preferred runway orientation, indicative airspace design (flight paths) and estimated impacts on the environment, people and health.
NSW Health contributed to the NSW Government submission and made comments principally in relation to aircraft noise and air pollution. The NSW Government submission was not publically released but some councils have made their submissions available on their websites - many building on a review commissioned by the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) and the Macarthur Regional Organisation of Councils (MACROC).
Links
Blacktown City Council EIS Submission
Fairfield City Council
Penrith City Council
WSROC commissioned independent review
A Health Impact Assessment of the Western Sydney Airport Community Engagement Process
Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a systematic process that examines the potential negative, positive, and unintended health impacts of an upcoming project or plan. HIA offers recommendations to improve the project or plan and promote healthy environments.
Consultation on the airport as part of the environmental impact assessment began in 2015. The environmental impact assessment considered health impacts associated with noise, air quality, and economic growth from the airport development. However, there are other potential impacts that may affect the wellbeing of local communities - those that are caused by or can be mitigated through stakeholder engagement processes - that have not been considered.
HIAs of other airports have shown that impacts on mental and community wellbeing are significant. These HIAs have also highlighted the importance of the planning and engagement process as having the potential to contribute to, or more positively to mitigate, these impacts. Despite the potentially significant changes for local residents, it is not clear what the future consultation process with the airport developers will be.
A Population Health working group will conduct an HIA of the Western Sydney Airport stakeholder engagement process to examine potential health impacts that may be overlooked in other impact assessments - such as perceived health risks, community cohesion, and mental wellbeing - and offer recommendations to the project proponents to enhance their engagement strategies. Additionally the HIA will consider the consultation process for local government authorities, city councils, health districts, and other stakeholders to consider how the involvement of relevant stakeholders may also impact on future outcomes of the development and operations on the airport.
Key Contact People
Fiona Haigh
Deputy Director, Centre for Health Equity Training, Research and Evaluation
Email: f.haigh@unsw.edu.au
Useful Links
More about the Western Sydney Airport
More about HIA
Airport draft environmental impact statement
Developing a Vision for a 'Healthy' Airport
It is recognised that as well as a terminal for air travel a modern airport can be a destination in its own right; one that provides for instance, retail services and places for entertainment and recreation for local and regional populations. It is a major development with significant infrastructure which connects to, and is part of, the surrounding and more regional communities. Airports are also places of employment, both on site and in surrounding areas, which draw largely on local populations. Airports and their surrounds therefore have large transient and permanent populations, and like any other community the health of these populations is impacted on by the nature of their built and social environment. This includes such things as access to healthy food, access to opportunities for physical activity and active forms of transport, the relationship of the airport to the local community, and the environmental footprint of the airport.
A Population Health working group has been formed which aims to identify and document the elements of a healthy airport, an airport being defined as not simply the area within its geographical boundary but also the many activities and services that connect the airport to the community at large. It is envisaged that this work will potentially be used as a guide to healthy airport development and operation and to informing the public about the issues.
Key Contact People
Peter Sainsbury
Email: peter.sainsbury@health.nsw.gov.au
Western Sydney Airport: protecting the health of residents
Aircraft take-offs, landings and ground movements pose hazards to the health of residential populations through noise and air pollution. The Western Sydney Airport is likely to be a 24 hour (no curfew) airport and this poses special additional hazards.
To individuals aircraft flyovers cause discrete noise events over a short time interval. Aircraft noise events may interfere in everyday tasks such as speaking, listening, concentrating and sleep. Health effects that are well studied include cardiovascular effects, cognitive effects and sleep disturbance. There is high quality evidence for a causal relationship between environmental noise and ischaemic heart disease but this evidence is mainly from studies of road traffic noise. Short term interference in cognitive tasks is well described. Longer term effects of aircraft noise on cognitive abilities (such as reading) have been relatively well studied in school children although the evidence for a long term effects is not strong. The acute effect of aircraft noise on sleep is also well described in both sleep laboratory studies and in large field studies. However, the long term health consequences of some measures of sleep disturbance are not clear.
Aircraft have long takeovers and descents and aircraft exhaust is dispersed at a height that leads to dispersion over a wide area and a small air pollution effect on the air shed rather than a discrete population. However, ground movements do contribute to local air pollution and can pose health risks for the populations in the immediate surround of the airport. The health risks from some air pollutants are very well described.
This population health working group aims to summarise the direct health effects from exposure to aircraft noise and air pollution, disseminate these findings and contribute constructively to the discussion of ways in which any risks to communities can be mitigated.
Useful Links
Aircraft noise, sleep disturbance and health effects: a review. ERCD report 1208 http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/modalapplication.aspx?appid=11&mode=detail&id=5360
Night noise guidelines for Europe. http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/noise/policy/who-night-noise-guidelines-for-europe
Key Contact People
Stephen Conaty
Director Population Health
stephen.conaty@health.nsw.gov.au
Bin Jalaludin
Director Epidemiology
Health People and Places Unit
Bin.jalaludin@health.nsw.gov.au
