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Residents near Canberra Airport fear new plans for expansion and changes to flight paths may mean more noise. The council in Queanbeyan has written to the airport owners, seeking details and assurances. And one residents' group wants to know if a planned school would be affected. The Canberra Airport 2020 Master Plan proposes an expansion and talks of more night flights and the moving of Pialligo Avenue, one of the main roads between Queanbeyan and the city. The airport is also considering a second terminal for budget airlines and a warehouse so freight can be carried in bulk on cargo planes from "freight hub facilities". The airport said the plans for another terminal were not immediate. Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council has expressed concern. A recent meeting heard that there would be gainers and losers under the new airport plan. Some properties would find their noise levels eased but the noise area would be "expanded to the east to include additional residential properties not currently impacted". Council official David Carswell wrote to the airport suggesting changes to the plan. "Where that can be done, it is likely to result in lesser impact to the community and should facilitate a less contentious pathway," said the letter, which The Canberra Times has seen. Some residents are worried that changes in the pattern of aircraft noise will affect a new development in South Jerrabomberra. Approval was only given on condition a new high school be built, but the council wants to know if the area will now be too noisy for children. President of the Jerrabomberra Residents' Association Margot Sachse said: "Canberra Airport is an inner city airport and as such has to live within the existing community. "If the expanded noise contours proposed in this plan compromise the construction of the much-needed Jerrabomberra High School, I can assure you our community will be outraged." The ACT Greens have called for a curfew to cut out night flights, citing Sydney's ban from 11pm to 6am. Some overly late flights into Sydney can get diverted to Canberra. "Canberrans expect and deserve to be protected from aircraft noise, and putting a curfew is important to ensure that," said ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury. "Given the Sydney Airport curfew, we know that the ACT is seen as a good overnight flight option, which the Greens want ruled out." The airport rejects the idea of putting a late night curfew on flights. The master plan says that 24-hour operation is "an integral part" of the future. The airport should continue "to operate free of any such constraints". And it thinks the expansion of cargo flights with purpose-built planes and warehousing would benefit the whole region. "Facilities at Canberra Airport are curfew free and easily accessible to regional NSW and growers and producers can pack their trucks, get them to Canberra Airport in time for the evening Singapore flight and their product will be in Singapore or other ports in Asia the next day," a spokesperson said. READ MORE: The plan talks of the introduction of freight hub facilities, "including but not limited to, aircraft taxiways and parking apron warehousing facilities". Two years ago, consultants estimated nearly 40,000 tonnes of exports leave the Canberra region every year by truck to be loaded on planes from Sydney and Melbourne. If that went from Canberra instead, it would amount to one 747 freighter landing per day. A new cargo airport is being built in Western Sydney, to open in 2026. It's not clear if that would dent Canberra's freight ambitions. Under Canberra's new plan, the number of passengers would treble in the next two decades. At the moment, more than three million passengers pass through it each year. The plan forecasts that over the next 20 years Canberra passengers numbers are projected to reach at least 8.9 million passengers per annum.

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