Topic: Airport growth and noise fairness

Presentation (PDF, 16 MB)

On May 27, the Toronto Pearson Residents’ Reference Panel convened for the first time.

The panelists were welcomed by Robyn Connelly, Director of Community Relations for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA). Panel Chair Peter MacLeod then explained in detail the Panel’s mandate and the tasks ahead, before inviting the members to introduce themselves, and to share why they decided to volunteer.

The members of the Panel came from every corner of the city, and they truly represented the diversity of the GTA. Many panelists were motivated to participate by a sense of volunteerism, and a desire to give back to their communities. Several also noted that they live in neighbourhoods that are strongly impacted by airplane noise, and that they wanted to work to mitigate the impacts of growth on local communities. Others were frequent users of Toronto Pearson, and hope to contribute to bettering the airport.

After introductions, Peter began the day’s learning curriculum by providing context on the changing demographics and rapid growth of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Then, Scott Armstrong, Director of External Communications for the GTAA, told the story of Toronto Pearson: its history, the scale of its operations, and its many different stakeholders.

Eileen Waechter, Director of Planning for the GTAA, provided a glimpse into the future, laying out Toronto Pearson’s vision of becoming the best airport in the world, and its goal of growing into a mega-hub, along the lines of JFK airport in New York, London Heathrow, and Dubai. She outlined how this might influence the city and the region, and on the network of smaller airports in Southern Ontario.

After learning the essentials about Toronto Pearson and its growth plan, it was time to see the airport in action. Panelists took a tour of Terminal 3, providing a hands-on overview of how the airport operates, from check-in to baggage claim. Download the handout panelists brought with them on the tour (PDF).

For the last hour of the day, the panelists began their deliberations, breaking into small groups to identify the values that they believe should guide airport growth. In their second meeting, on June 3, members of the Panel will revisit these values, decide together which are the most important, and clearly define each one.

Presentation (PDF, 13 MB)

At its second meeting, on June 3, the Toronto Pearson Residents’ Reference Panel learned from several experts about the noise environment around the airport, the science of noise, the impacts of the airport’s operations on local communities, and some of the noise mitigation practices that other airports use.

After a quick recap of the first meeting, Panel Chair Peter MacLeod introduced Max Conrady, a representative of Frankfurt Airport, who joined via Skype. Max shared the story of his airport’s development, describing some of the challenges it has faced over the years, the impacts it has had on surrounding communities, and some of mitigation measures Frankfurt has adopted.

To bring the discussion of impacts and mitigation closer to home, the Panel then heard from Cynthia Woods, the Manager of the Noise Management Office at GTAA. Cynthia helped the Panel to understand Pearson’s flight paths and how they are managed, and the impacts on the communities beneath them. She also explained how the Toronto Pearson Noise Management Office engages with surrounding communities around noise, including the noise complaints process.

Up next was Colin Novak, an acoustician from Akoustik Engineering Limited, who provided an explanation of the science of noise —frequency, tone, and sources— and talked about the different factors that influence the volume and type of noise that airplanes produce. He also detailed some of the factors that drive noise annoyance, which can be independent of the physical characteristics of noise. For example, airplane noise can be more annoying at night than during the day because of lower ambient noise levels, or in a park when there is an expectation of quiet.

After lunch, the Panel heard from Nick Boud, Principal Consultant with HELIOS. He discussed what makes Toronto Pearson’s airspace unique and presented possible mitigation strategies that are being modelled.

The day’s learning curriculum ended with speakers representing some of the local communities that have been most engaged around the issues of noise management and mitigation at the airport: Richard Boehnke and Donald Beggs from the Markland Wood Homeowners Association, Joe Silva from the Rockwood Homeowners Association, Jane Stygall from the Alderwood Airplane Noise group, and Richard Macklin from the Casa Loma Better Flight Paths working group. Each speaker shared their community’s experience with airplane noise, the history of their interactions with Toronto Pearson, and the changes they would propose to mitigate noise. The speakers engaged in a frank discussion with panelists where they expressed their frustration with the aircraft noise that their communities experience and the lack of action to address their noise concerns.

The panelists then broke into small groups to identify the issues around noise that had been highlighted throughout the day by different speakers, some of the mitigation strategies the airport might take to address these issues, and the principles they believe should drive the GTAA’s general approach to dealing with the noise impacts of airport growth.

Presentation (PDF, 3 MB)

At its third meeting on September 9, the Toronto Pearson Residents’ Reference Panel heard from experts about other organizations that contribute to Toronto Pearson’s operations, the relationship between Toronto Pearson and its surrounding communities, and began work on recommendations they will include in their final report to the GTAA.

Following a summer break, the Panel came together to review concepts covered at their first two meetings in May and June, and discussed feedback gathered at several public workshops hosted by the GTAA over the summer.

Panel Chair Peter MacLeod took time to describe the GTAA’s 6 ongoing engagement initiatives currently working to gather the insights and concerns of residents regarding airport growth. The information gathered through these 6 initiatives will inform the 2018-2023 GTAA Noise Management Action Plan and the 2018-2028 GTAA Master Plan. Peter then outlined what the autumn and winter will hold for the GTAA, and where the Panel’s final report fits in this engagement process.

Following Peter’s recap and review, the Panel heard from Michelle Bishop, the Director of Government and Public Affairs of NAV Canada. Michelle provided a welcome description of NAV Canada’s mandate, their role in nationwide flight operations, and their working relationship with the GTAA.

Michelle went into great detail about NAV Canada’s role at Toronto Pearson, general air traffic control principles, and the components that comprise an arrival flight path. Michelle then described the airspace structure for Toronto Pearson, and provided context around the flight path changes made in 2012. Michelle also described the ongoing Toronto Independent Airspace Review (commonly known as the “Helios Study”), and why that review was commissioned.

Up next, the Panel heard from Councillor Stephen Holyday of Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre. Councillor Holyday provided the Panel with insight into representing impacted communities in their final report.

After lunch, the panelists broken into small groups to discuss the issues they see impeding airport growth and noise mitigation. Panelists then wrote the first draft of their recommended actions they will suggest the GTAA take to grow responsibly. At their final meeting, the Panel will work together to polish these issues and recommendations to insert into their final report.

At the fourth and final meeting, on September 16, the Reference Panel re-viewed their principles, values, issues, and recommendations and worked intensively to complete and revise their text.

The facilitation team had used the draft recommendations from the Panel to create a ‘placemat’ document listing each of the many ideas the Panel had proposed. The Panel used this document to reduce duplication and zero in on the issues and recommendations they would choose to include in their final report.

Again, working in small groups, the panelists worked diligently through the day as they wrestled with the wording of their recommendations and to find common ground that a strong majority of the panelists could support. They also took time to discuss one of the more controversial aspects of noise management — noise-sharing, or the practice of deliberately directing air traffic to avoid certain heavily impacted neighbourhoods in order to provide respite. What might have been a divisive discussion earlier in the process was very constructive as the panelists worked in small groups to map out the implications of this concept and whether there were specific criteria that would need to be a part of any noise-sharing proposal. Ultimately, in the absence of a detailed proposal, the panelists declined to endorse noise-sharing, but they did agree that before any noise-sharing system is developed, the GTAA should exhaust all other noise mitigation measures. Only then —and only if the respite afforded to underlying communities was meaningful and predictable— should a noise-sharing system be considered, and it should still be subject to detailed consultation with impacted communities.

As they reached the end of their final session together, the panelists took turns reading out their draft report to three senior executives from the GTAA, including Hillary Marshall, Vice President, Stakeholder Relations and Communications, Craig Bradbrook, Vice President, Aviation Services, and Kim Stangeby, Chief Strategy Officer. Each executive then thanked the panelists for their dedication to the process and the thoroughness of their deliberations.

A Residents’ Reference Panel is a forum of randomly selected volunteers who work together to represent the interests and perspectives of their communities as they provide guidance to not-for-profits, governments, and public agencies.

The Toronto Pearson Residents’ Reference Panel provided recommendations that informed and will continue to inform decisions about how Pearson grows in the future, and especially decisions that can impact local communities.

Importantly, the Panel was not a decision-making authority, and it complements – not replaces – public consultation on any major decisions that Toronto Pearson makes in the future, including operational or procedural changes. The Panel was also time-limited, meeting twice in the spring of 2017 and twice in the fall, before producing its final report.

As global demand for air travel continues to increase, Pearson is poised to become one of the world’s next top-tier international airports, serving upwards of 80 million passengers in the next 20 years. This will create new jobs for area residents and facilitate investment, trade, and tourism.

With this potential waiting to be unlocked, we understand that open and honest communication about airport growth and the challenges it poses is essential to being a good neighbour. The Residents’ Reference Panel was tasked with learning about the options that exist to address these challenges and ensure Pearson grows sustainably into the future.

In April 2017, 20,000 invitation letters were mailed to addresses across the GTA, selected at random by Canada Post. One member from each household that received this letter was invited to register as a volunteer for the Reference Panel. They could register by mailing in a response card in a pre-paid envelope, by calling a toll-free hotline, or by filling out a form online.

From these volunteers, the members of the Residents’ Reference Panel were selected through a process called a Civic Lottery. This ensures that members are selected at random, but in such a way as to be broadly representative of the population – in this case, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Panelists were also selected to ensure greater representation of communities that are strongly impacted by aircraft noise.

Panelists were not interviewed or otherwise vetted in any way. Any volunteer selected at random through the Civic Lottery who matched the demographic criteria was invited to sit on the Panel.

The Civic Lottery invitation letter and FAQs (PDF, 196 KB)

The 36 members of the Residents’ Reference Panel were selected to represent a cross-section of the GTA, and a large proportion of them were selected from neighbourhoods that are strongly impacted by aircraft noise. However, because the Panel only consisted of 36 members, it was not possible to have a representative of every GTA neighbourhood on the Panel.

We mailed 20,000 Civic Lottery invitations to the roughly 7.2 million people in the GTA. From amongst those who received an invitation in the mail, a fraction was interested in participating and was available to attend the four Saturday Panel meetings. And from those who volunteered, we selected 36.