New report challenges government policy on noise

28th February, 2014

At a launch of a new report on 27th Feb 2014, London MPs and Councils challenged Government and the Airports Commission on aircraft noise with an updated ‘ANASE’ report.

The ANASE (Attitudes to Noise from Aviation Sources in England) report was originally published in 2007.  The study looked at the link between aircraft noise and community annoyance and was expected to supersede the old ANIS study of 1982.

However, the government did not like what the report said. In particular that it discredited the 57dB Leq noise level, traditionally asserted by government to be the level below which people are not affected by aircraft noise.

The ANASE study has a steering group of independent experts and none dissented from the report. But the government then appointed two non-independent reviewers with the clear aim of discrediting the report. They then used those non-independent reviews as justification to ignore the ANASE study and continue to rely on the outdated ANIS study of 1982.

The new report reviews the ANASE study, considers all the criticisms made, and looks at information from recent studies around the world. It concludes that the ANASE study was authoritative, reliable, met all the standards expected of such a project and that its results were consistent with other modern research.

The researchers are cautious with their words, but make it very clear that the government’s rejection of ANASE had nothing to do with the evidence or the quality of the study. It was rejected for entirely political reasons on the flimsiest of grounds

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Links

Understanding UK community annoyance with aircraft noise: ANASE update study