Varadkar insists locals’ concerns about new €320m runway project at Dublin Airport are not being ignored

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has insisted that the concerns of local people whose homes are close to the new €320m runway project at Dublin Airport are not being ignoredTaoiseach Leo Varadkar has insisted that the concerns of local people whose homes are close to the new €320m runway project at Dublin Airport are not being ignored by the DAA, the semi-State company that operates the gateway, or the Government.Mr Varadkar and Transport Minister Shane Ross were greeted this morning at a sod-turning ceremony for the new runway by a small group of local protesters. The protesters are opposed to efforts by the DAA to relax two planning conditions that currently would inhibit the number of flights that can be handled by Dublin Airport once the new runway is operational. The airport handled about 31.5 million passengers last year.One of the conditions attached by An Bord Pleanála would prohibit the new runway’s use between 11pm and 7am – a period that includes the airport’s extremely busy morning operations. The second condition would cap the number of total flights at the airport between 11pm and 7am at 65. The airport currently handles about 100 flights during that time.“I represent Dublin West constituency,” said Mr Varadkar, “A large part of my constituency is under the flight path… and there has been a lot of engagement between the DAA and residents. We totally understand the concerns that residents have in relation to the value of their properties, and also in relation to noise abatement. There is a plan in place to purchase a lot of homes if people are willing to sell.”He added that the DAA will also pay for many other homes to be insulated. “That’s always the way with these projects,” said Mr Varadkar. “You have to balance local concerns on the one hand with the needs and the greater good of the entire country. This airport is Ireland’s gateway to the world. “Mr Ross insisted that it was “absolutely wrong” to say that local residents have been ignored. Last night, the Oireachtas passed legislation that makes Fingal County Council the noise regulator for Dublin Airport. It’s expected to be enacted next month. A noise regulator was required under EU legislation. The noise regulator will play a key role in helping An Bord Pleanala to determine if the two planning conditions that will restrict aircraft movements should be amended. One of the protesters, Sheila Morris, who’s secretary of the St Margaret’s Concerned Residents Group, said overturning the two planning conditions would have a “massive impact” on her and other local residents’ homes.“Our homes will be deemed worthless,” she said. “We won’t be able to live here. We have a voluntary buyout scheme out to us which is absolutely not fit for purpose.”About 250 homes are impacted most by the new runway.DAA chief executive Dalton Philips described the two planning conditions as “onerous” and has previously stated that if they are in place when the new runway is operational that the result would be catastrophic for the airport and the country, significantly reducing the number of flights and passengers the gateway could handle.“We want to challenge those conditions,” he said. “We don’t take it lightly. As the Taoiseach said, it’s about the wider economic good. There are residents that are impacted and we’re clearly we engage with them and we’re concerned about that.”Source: Irish Times