3 |Friday, March 10, 2017 | O A K V IL L E B E A V E R | www.insideHALTON.com Residents vocal with concerns over airplane noise by Marta Marychuk Oakville Beaver Staff Residents angry about airplane noise in Oakville are not being heard enough to make the noise go away "We cannot force Nav Canada to do anything. You, the people, have to hold them accountable," Nick Boud, a principal with aviation consultant Helios, told a small, but angry crowd attending as Helios held the third of four community consultations as part an independent review of Toronto airspace and noise, which Nav Canada hired Helios to conduct. About 50 people attending March 2 at St. Luke' s Community Centre, heard much, except what they wanted, and that was the airplane noise would go away Boud told the group that moving noise to another community isn't an option. Boud and colleague, Bo Redeborn, also of Helios, presented a variety of ways airplane noise could be mitigated. "It can't go back," said Redeborn, in response to a question from a resident asking why the GTAA just can't move the flight path farther north, instead of over Oakville. Nor can the Toronto Airspace Review recommend reducing capacity at Toronto Pearson Airport, Redeborn advised. Air traffic noise became a big problem for Oakville in 2012, when NAV Canada (a privately run, non-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada' s civil air navigation system) made changes to the flight paths for airplanes using Toronto Pearson I n te r n a t io n a l Airport. NAV Canada was formed in 1996 when it took over Canada' s air navigation Nick Boud, Helios services from Transport Canada as a new not-for-profit private entity Nav Canada, according to its website, is now Canada' s Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) and manages 12 million aircraft movements a year for 40,000 customers in more than 18 million square kilometres. It is the world' s first fully privatized civil air navigation service provider (ANSP) whose revenues come from aviation customers, not government. Helios is conducting the Toronto Airspace Review on behalf of Nav Canada. It recently concluded a similar noise review in England, at London' s Gatwick airport. Boud explained some measures that have worked in reducing noise in other airports include: a continuous descent, with planes using lower power; altering runways, to give residents respite from noise; improved descent manoeuvres; and monitoring and reporting on what Nav Canada is doing to reduce noise. Residents were critical of Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA). The GTAA is responsible for operating Toronto Pearson Airport. An angry resident charged that planes "fly too low and too slow" over Joshua Creek. She said the planes fly "minute, after minute, after minute." Redeborn said Helios is listening to all comments from community consultations before making its recommendations in a final report. While Nav Canada is footing the bill for the Toronto Air Space Review, Redeborn assured the study is independent. Anyone who missed Thursday' s meeting still has an opportunity to provide comments and concerns, until March 31, by contacting: torontoAirspaceReview@askhelios.com. A final report with recommendations will be made public this June. __ D OY O UH A V E : Reg'chiropodist * Foot/Arch Pain? · Ingrow n Toenails? · Diabetes? · Swollen Ankles? · Corns, Calluses? C A L L FOR AN AP P O IN TM E N T 905-632-1414 728 B urloak Drive w w w .fo o ta n d h e a lth clin ic.co m Bhandari Fam ily Dentistry returns to Oakville BRING IN YOUR FAMILY FOR A CHECK-UP AT OUR NEW MODERN CLINIC Dr. Bhandari is an advocate of oral health with 31 years of experience. He and his team pride themselves for their professional and comprehensive approach to dentistry. 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