Good news for the neighbors of Eindhoven Airport: after years of increasing numbers of local residents struggling with noise pollution, this increase now seems to be over. This is evident from research by the GGD Brabant-Zuidoost. The last time the GGD conducted this study was five years ago.
The GGD sent out a questionnaire to more than 30,000 residents in sixteen municipalities around Eindhoven Airport. 11,000 of them completed the questionnaire.
Sleep problems
Of these, 14 percent experience noise pollution. That is a trend break. From 2012 (9 percent) to 2018 (15 percent), nuisance increased every year, the GGD reports.
The number of people with sleeping problems due to noise is also decreasing. In 2012, 3 percent reported experiencing sleeping problems, which rose to 8 percent in 2018. This now concerns 7 percent of local residents.
Do you live close to the flight path? Then there is a greater chance that you will be awake. In municipalities such as Son en Breugel, Best, Veldhoven and Eersel, 33 to 55 percent are bothered by noise and 15 to 26 percent experience serious sleeping problems. On the other side of the airport, for example in Nuenen, virtually no one is bothered (2 percent).
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Concerns about the environment
A trial with fewer flights at night and a (temporary) stop on the growth of the airport appear to be the reason that residents do not experience more noise, according to the GGD. Residents also indicate that they like the fact that there has been better communication since 2018. In 2023, 65 percent of the research group indicated that they would have a fairly to very positive attitude towards the airport. This is considerably more than in 2018 (52 percent).
The number of people concerned about air pollution from aircraft has remained the same since the last survey. Both in 2018 and now it is 22 percent.
The GGD advises the airport to continue talking to local residents and to continue looking for ways to better protect homes against noise.
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