Victoria council is once again asking the federal government for regulations governing noise from float planes in its harbour.
“There is an issue with respect to the regulation of float planes in our community,” Coun. Ben Isitt said last week, noting that Victoria has been promised for the past decade and a half that regulatory amendments are on the way.
“It’s always the story of next year that we’re going to get the regulations,” he said. “Regardless of what people think of this industry and its impact on the community … the public interest would be best served by having a permanent regulatory framework that everyone is aware of.”
Isitt urged that Mayor Lisa Helps write the federal government for action.
“I think to provide some certainty for people living near the harbour, for employees, for the operators of these companies and for others — potential purchasers of land near the harbour — we need to get this regulatory ambiguity resolved,” he said.
The harbour airport has been running for about 17 years under draft regulations. Council last wrote to the federal government about the issue in July, asking that a noise exposure forecast for the Victoria Harbour Water Airport be provided.
In his most recent response, received Oct. 28, federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said there will be a 30-day comment period following the pre-publication of the proposed regulatory amendments this year.
As for the noise exposure forecast, Garneau says “for the year ending December 2016, total annual aircraft movements were 13 per cent lower than the benchmark figures used in the 2012 noise study.”
“Transport Canada continues to monitor aircraft movements annually, and the completion of further noise studies will be revisited should there be a significant increase in aircraft movements above peak 2002 levels,” Garneau writes.
