2020-10-12 GC Agenda - Item 9 - Attachment 1 - Aircraft Noise Ombudsman Report - Investigation

6.6       The only advertisement placed by SCC in the Cooroy Rag appeared on 24
          April 2019, on page 31 of the paper, when just one week of the consultation
          period remained and after all on-site consultations sessions had been
          completed. It made no reference to the new flight paths being over particular
          suburbs, or that these were any different to those proposed in the concept
          designs included in the EIS.

Letters to schools and other sensitive sites

6.7       The SEP listed a number of schools, hospitals and care facilities, which would
          receive communication from Airservices about the proposed airspace change.
          Most of these sites were outside the areas targeted by Airservices for
          consultation, but were mostly those identified in the TEIA as being within
          certain noise contours before opening and/or after opening scenarios.

Contact with known community groups

6.8       Airservices relied on the SCAEP contacting community groups and arranging
          a briefing session to be held during the consultation period. Despite a long list
          of invitees, only three community groups (Residents for Responsible
          Development, Mudjimba Residents Association, Twin Waters West and
          Surrounds) attended the session held at the Maroochy RSL, Maroochydore.
          Invitations were sent by email to community group email addresses at 4.30pm
          on the Friday before the scheduled briefing at 2-4pm on Wednesday 20
          March.

Emails to existing contacts within complaints database

6.9       Airservices contacted those individuals with an email address who had been
          registered in its complaints database; i.e. those who had submitted a
          complaint in relation to Sunshine Coast Airport in the period 1 January 2016 to
          20 March 2019. Emails were sent to 183 individuals. Only five individuals
          within the suburbs Airservices was targeting with its consultation were
          contacted.

Mailout

6.10 The SCAEP undertook a mail-out to approximately 45,000 households on 13
     March 2019 advising of the consultation period and the upcoming consultation
     sessions that were led by Sunshine Coast Council. Many complainants
     reported not receiving this ‘To the Householder’ letter at all or received it too
     late to make arrangements to attend the scheduled sessions.

6.11 A resident from within the target area advised:

                  We were not aware of any proposed flight path changes, consultation meetings, or the
                  “6-week” submission period. Like many other households in Noosa Shire, we found out
                  about the changes, long after submissions had closed.
                   No notices from ASA or Sunshine Coast Council/Airport arrived in our letterbox.
                   A post on Facebook by Noosa Shire Council is insufficient, not everyone uses
                    Facebook.
                   Strangely, no notices or advertisements appeared in our local newspapers, Noosa
                    News, Cooroy Rag or Noosa Today, which cover the target area

Aircraft Noise Ombudsman
Investigation into complaints about the introduction of new flight paths in the Sunshine Coast (April 2020)   Page 16