Dublin Airport investigated over alleged non-compliance with planning permission for new runway

Dublin Airport is under investigation for alleged non-compliance with the planning permission for its new north runway.

The runway has been the subject of complaints about aircraft noise and flight paths from residents in north Dublin and farther afield since it came into use in August.

Fingal County Council (FCC) issued a warning letter to the airport’s operators DAA notifying it of the investigation.

The letter says that alleged “unauthorised development may be ongoing” that does not comply with the planning permission related to the runway.

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This includes aircraft not operating in the permitted flight paths and the noise being generated not being in accordance with the planning permission. FCC also cites alleged non-compliance with noise insulation schemes for homes, among other issues.

The letter, issued in September, also notes that if, following the investigation, it is determined that unauthorised development has been carried out an enforcement notice may follow or an injunction may be sought in the courts.

[ VIDEO: 'There's thousands of people affected' - residents disrupted by Dublin Airport’s new runway ]

A DAA spokesman said that the airport operators formally responded in October, adding: “There is a process in place that will run its course… accordingly it would not be appropriate to comment further at this juncture.”

FCC said that the warning letter was issued following receipt of a number of planning enforcement complaints.

A statement said the local authority is considering the contents of the DAA’s response and further information has been sought as part of its “ongoing investigation”.

A copy of the warning letter, along with copies of several complaints from residents about aircraft noise and flight paths, were released to the Irish Times by FCC under the Freedom of Information Act.

Aircraft began using the €320 million runway on August 24th.

DAA has a community liaison team and prior to the opening of the runway an insulation scheme was set up to help reduce the noise in more than 200 eligible homes.

However, the complaints released by FCC show concern among residents about excessive noise levels and changes in flight paths from what had been planned.

One person complained the level of noise over their home is “horrendous and unacceptable” while another individual said their family is being woken up by aircraft early in the morning and were prevented from sleeping until late at night.

Others claim to have recorded noise of between 80 and 94 decibels.

One complainant queried why they were not eligible for the noise insulation scheme while nearby neighbours were.

A different email also suggested the flight paths have changed and complained that “residents are living in what sounds like a war zone area”.

[ ‘Really, really loud’: The village disrupted by Dublin Airport’s new runway ]

Another said aircraft are “too loud 60km from Dublin Airport”, suggesting that people in towns and villages in Co Meath are “going to suffer” from aircraft descending too low over residential areas.

As of mid-October, some 20 complaints had been made to the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority. That compares with six in 2019, three in 2020 and 10 in 2021. The latter two years had lower levels of flight activity due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Green Party Fingal councillor Ian Carey said: “What has been happening since the north runway opened has been shocking.

“People who were told they would not be impacted by the runway have been watching planes fly directly over them and are experiencing huge noise disturbance.”

A DAA spokesman said that after the new runway began operations an issue with departure flight paths was identified that “resulted in some local communities being unexpectedly overflown, for which DAA sincerely apologises”.

He said the issue did not have any impact on the safety of aircraft.

The spokesman said DAA “immediately started a review, with the aim to satisfactorily resolve the issue as soon as possible”.

This review identified how some instrument flight procedures (IFPs) related to departures were not aligned to modelling assumptions included in DAA’s planning submissions.

The spokesman said: “The outcome of the review, in consultation with the Irish Aviation Authority, proposes updates to the affected IFPs . . . which will result in flight paths aligning more closely with the information previously communicated by DAA.”

Regulatory review and approval of the changes are required before they can be implemented but it is anticipated that this process will be completed to allow new departure procedures to become operational in quarter one of 2023.

The DAA expects the overall number of houses impacted by noise will be similar but it said “a small number of dwellings which were previously on the verge of eligibility for mitigation measures, will likely become eligible”.

It intends to provide the mitigation measures “as soon as possible”.

The spokesman added: “DAA fully appreciates the impact the ongoing situation is having on our local communities and for which we again sincerely apologise.”

Several councillors raised the issue of the operation of the north runway at the Fingal County Council meeting on Monday night.

Matthew McAleese, director of planning and strategic infrastructure with the council, told councillors that an investigation had begun into whether the Dublin airport authority (DAA) was complying with its planning permission for the runway.

“We’ve received 90 representations to date relating to non-compliance with the number of elements of the 2007 planning consent,” he said. “A warning letter was issued on the 21st of September and the response was received from the DAA on October 19th so there’s an investigation now underway.”

As part of that investigation, the council last Friday sought further information from the DAA, Mr McAleese said. “The planning authority has given the DAA four weeks to respond to that request.”