The impact of airport noise as part of a Strategic Environmental Assessment, case study: The Tivat (Montenegro) Airport expansion plan

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is one of the most important instruments for making relevant decisions on the basis of which spatial planning is aligned with the tenets and principles of sustainable spatial development. Its primary application is in spatial (strategic) and urban planning, as well as in the planning and design of sectoral policies in the areas of energy, water management, waste management, transport, etc. The implementation of SEA allows developers to establish the benefits and implications of the proposed spatial changes, taking into account the capacity of the space to sustain the planned development, and to determine the degree of acceptability of the proposed spatial changes. This paper presents a specific method of assessing the impact of airport noise as part of a particular SEA. The particularity of this method is that it integrates the objectives, indicators and criteria for assessing the impact of airport noise on the population using the method of multi-criteria evaluation, applied in the preparation of the SEA for the Urban development plan regarding the expansion of Tivat Airport, Montenegro. The changes in noise intensity within the planning horizon to 2030 were predicted taking into account the following factors: physical, geographic and demographic characteristics of the space, the projected increase in the number and nature of the flights operated within the planning period, as well as the types of aircraft. On the basis of these data noise dispersion modelling was carried out using the IMMI model, and the results obtained were used in a multi-criteria evaluation as part of the SEA. The results of the research do not indicate any significant increase in noise intensity within the planning period to 2030 and they represent a good basis for making relevant decisions regarding the future development of Tivat Airport.