M.A. (Geography) / The development of a new airport usually brings with it the problem of aircraft noise pollution for land users located within about 15km of the airport boundaries. Excessive aircraft noise levels can cause health problems for residents and workers, and be responsible for a decrease in residential property values in the noise impacted areas. This dissertation reviews the problems associated with aircraft noise, examines the predicted noise impact of aircraft operations at the proposed airport at La Mercy in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, and concludes with recommendations for future land use around the airport. A number of relatively small urban settlements (Tongaat, Verulam, Waterloo, La Mercy, Umdloti Beach) are located around the La Mercy airport site. Almost all of the land not used for urban sett~ements is used for cultivation of sugar cane - very little land remains undeveloped. The agricultural land will probably eventually be converted to urban use, given the close proximity to Tongaat, Verulam and Durban. As such, comprehensive land use planning may still be done in order to avoid development of land for uses which will not be compatible with the anticipated aircraft noise levels. The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA of the United States) computerised Integrated Noise Model (INM), designed to model aircraft noise impact was used to derive contours representing aircraft noise exposure around the airport. Taking factors such as airport elevation, mean temperature, runway usage, aircraft type, and flight routes into account, a set of contours unique to the airport at La Mercy were produced. By overlaying the noise contours on land use maps, land uses which would be incompatible with aircraft noise, should the airport be constructed were identified. Recommendations were then iii made on future developments in those non noise compatible areas. Much of Tongaat would be exposed to a moderate noise impact, whilst small portions receive a substantial impact. The whole settlement of Waterloo, and the southern portion of Verulam would be exposed to a severe noise impact. The central and northern portions of Verulam would receive substantial and moderate impacts respectively. Mount Edgecombe and Duffs Road would be exposed to a substantial impact, whilst the northern suburbs of Durban including Westville would encounter a moderate impact. An examination was then made of the general principles for land development - physical requirements of commercial, industrial and residential land use, and locational requirements of these land users in relation to one another. Thereafter, undeveloped land (undeveloped from an urban point of view ie. land used for sugar cane cultivation) was identified, and broad recommendations made for developing that land for urban use, taking general land use development principles into account
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:3810 |
| Date | 11 February 2014 |
| Creators | Goldschagg, Paul Louis |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Johannesburg |
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