Tens of thousands of homes can be built in the vicinity of Schiphol in the coming years if the airport is used in a different way and less noise pollution is produced. This will create space to build residential areas in places where this is currently not possible. Depending on choices made, this can amount to 150,000 new homes, consisting of a mix of low-rise and high-rise buildings. If only low-rise buildings are chosen, 70,000 houses are possible.
This emerges from an investigation by aerospace engineering firm To70, commissioned by the Noord-Holland Environmental Federation and Milieudefensie. The environmental organizations want the report to be discussed when the cabinet is formed.
To70 has identified eleven focus areas around Schiphol that are suitable for new construction. They connect to existing urban areas, but are located outside nature reserves and parks. This concerns possible residential areas or extensions of existing neighborhoods near Amsterdam, Aalsmeer, Uithoorn, Nieuw-Vennep, Hoofddorp and Haarlem.
Menu
The report offers a kind of menu of measures to fly differently or less, so that there is less noise pollution and opportunities for new construction. Adjusting the flight paths of the Aalsmeerbaan, for example, would enable the construction of approximately 11,000 new homes. Changing flight paths around the Kaagbaan could potentially even result in 32,000 new homes. According to the calculations, if there were no longer flights at night, space would be created for the construction of up to 51,500 new homes. To70 emphasizes that these figures are indicative.
An even more rigorous choice would be to close the secondary jobs. If the Aalsmeerbaan and Zwanenburgbaan were no longer used, this could make about 120,000 new homes possible.
Fewer flights?
Until this year, Schiphol is subject to a maximum of 500,000 aircraft movements per year. Due to the corona crisis, that number is now far from being reached. A new cabinet could choose to limit the number of flight movements to 400,000 or even 300,000. According to the researchers, this would provide space for 18,700 and 34,300 new homes, respectively.
The good news is that the replacement of old aircraft by quieter successors also creates space: fleet renewal will yield an estimated 21,300 new homes.
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