Local residents who have been fighting against Schiphol for years because of noise pollution are happy that the municipality is taking these steps. “We have been plagued by a lot of nuisance here for years, without any enforcement,” says Mirella Visser of residents’ platform PUSH in Uithoorn.
“It is really necessary for action to be taken here. We have a neighborhood here with many young children and they no longer sleep well at night. And that has consequences for the rest of their lives, for their educational performance. That has really been proven,” says Visser. “The time for tolerance is over, you can’t keep doing that indefinitely.”
The ILT is currently assessing Uithoorn’s request. If the inspectorate agrees, Schiphol may be obliged to limit the use of the Aalsmeer runway. There is a statutory decision period of eight weeks for processing the enforcement request. This period runs until December 24.
Whether Uithoorn’s request will actually lead to less noise pollution remains to be seen. “I think it will be difficult,” says a resident matter-of-factly.
“I think Schiphol is too powerful an institution to take action against,” says Uithoornaar Thomas (65), who previously worked at KLM’s Technical Department and therefore says he is ‘a bit confused’. “Many people in the area also make a living from this. But the Aalsmeerbaan is used a lot, so I think it could be done a little less.”
The hope is that the air will finally become quieter. “I just think that you should use all the options you have. Because the interests of the residents are now simply subordinated to the interests of Schiphol and that is not okay,” said Visser.