The Age, 12 Dec 08.
Communities get online tool to monitor aircraft noiseDecember 12, 2008
People living near Australia's major airports will be able to monitor aircraft noise and flight movements around their homes using a new website.
The Australian-first WebTrak site will allow people to track a specific aircraft's flight path, get information on what type of plane it is, its height and distance from their homes and its noise output.
Extra portable noise monitors will also be rolled out and more than 40 existing monitors will be upgraded under the $20 million initiative.
Using air traffic control surveillance radars, WebTrak tracks aircraft movements within 55km of eight of Australia's busiest airports - Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns and Coolangatta.
The information is provided almost in real time, with a delay of 40 minutes for security reasons, and people can also access the previous week's data.
Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese launched WebTrak at Sydney airport on Thursday, saying it was important to balance the needs of communities with the economic benefits generated by aviation in Australia.
He said aviation generated more than $6 billion for the economy and provided 50,000 direct and 500,000 indirect jobs.
The program would give communities concerned about noise more information than ever before, making airport operations more transparent, Mr Albanese said.
"Part of the frustration that has been felt in the past has been a lack of available information from these communities," he said.
"This will change that."
The 40-minute delay in the data was "commonsense" and had been implemented on advice from security experts, he said.
"You wouldn't want people to be able to track precisely the trajectory of planes in real time," he said.
But the NSW Greens criticised the scheme, saying it wouldn't achieve anything.
Greens councillor Max Phillips, from Marrickville Council in Sydney's inner-west, which is under a flight path, said residents already knew very well where aircraft were in relation to their homes.
"Webtrak is fiddling at the edges," he said.
"It is the kind of
PR stunt you do when you aren't prepared to address the main issue.
"We want real action on aircraft noise."
WebTrak can be accessed through Airservices Australia's website at
Airservices Australia - Aircraft Noise - WebTrak