Transportation Research Part D 49 (2016) 271–279

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Transportation Research Part D

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The impact of airport noise as part of a Strategic Environmental

Assessment, case study: The Tivat (Montenegro) Airport
expansion plan
Boško Josimović ⇑, Nikola Krunić, Marina Nenković-Riznić
Institute of Architecture, Urban & Spatial Planning of Serbia, Bulevar kralja Aleksandra 73, Belgrade, Serbia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is one of the most important instruments for
Received 3 March 2016 making relevant decisions on the basis of which spatial planning is aligned with the tenets
Revised 1 June 2016 and principles of sustainable spatial development. Its primary application is in spatial
Accepted 17 October 2016
(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 imple-
mentation of SEA allows developers to establish the benefits and implications of the pro-
Keywords:
posed spatial changes, taking into account the capacity of the space to sustain the
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
Airport noise
planned development, and to determine the degree of acceptability of the proposed spatial
Multi-criteria evaluation 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 signif-
icant 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.
Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction

The implementation of SEA makes it possible to consider the implications of the planned activities and spatial changes,
taking into account the capacity of the space. A large number of authors have discussed the role and importance of SEA in
designing policies in various spheres of social activities, as well as its role in decision-making (Therivel, 1992; Therivel and
Partidario, 1996; Nilsson and Dalkmann, 2001; Nilsson et al., 2005; Maričić i Josimović, 2005; White and Noble, 2013; and
others). In this context, it may be said that, both from a scientific and professional standpoint, SEA is of great importance in
creating development policies, which is corroborated by the fact that an increasing number of international institutions, such

⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: bosko@iaus.ac.rs (B. Josimović).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2016.10.005
1361-9209/Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
272 B. Josimović et al. / Transportation Research Part D 49 (2016) 271–279

as the European Commission, the World Bank, UNDP, UNEP and USAID, are introducing instruments and requests for the
application of SEA, with the aim of increasing the number of development initiatives which are in accordance with the envi-
ronment and principles of sustainable development (for more details, see: Dalal-Clayton and Sadler, 2005).
Compared to other methods which contribute to decision-making, such as the traditional ‘‘life cycle assessment” (Tukker,
2000; Bond et al., 2001; Bjorklund and Finnveden, 2007; Laurent et al., 2013), the SEA contributes to integrating the impacts
at the strategic level of planning. For the purpose of making good decisions regarding the sustainability of the solutions
defined in plans, it is necessary to consider different aspects of the potential impacts. Multi-criteria analysis has been
strongly advised by various authors with expertise in airport planning (Partidário and Coutinho, 2011; Jazarević and
Rašuo, 2013).
This paper presents a model for assessing the impact of noise, which was employed in developing the SEA for the Urban
development plan for expanding Tivat Airport (Montenegro), namely, the way it was incorporated into the method of multi-
criteria evaluation, by formulating relevant objectives, indicators and criteria for evaluation. Although the impact of a large
number of planning solutions and their implications for various environmental and socio-economic aspects of development
were considered in the SEA, the focus of this paper is exclusively on presenting the assessment of the impact of noise as the
dominant impact of the airport on the environment and health of the population. Many authors have analyzed the signifi-
cance and considered different aspects of the impact of airport noise (Nero and Black, 2000; Hsu and Lin, 2005; Black et al.,
2007; Lijesen et al., 2010; Zacharya et al., 2010; Vogiatzis, 2012; Ozkurt, 2014; Ozkurt et al., 2015; Iglesias-Merchana et al.,
2015; Lawton and Fujiwara, 2016; and others). However, although this problem has received a lot of attention in scientific
and professional literature, very little has been written on how the impact of airport noise is treated in the planning process
that precedes the development of specific projects. It is in this context that the specificity of this paper and the approach
elaborated in it can be seen.

2. Case study area – Initial position

Tivat Airport is the second most important airport in Montenegro. It is located on the coast of Montenegro (Fig. 1), in the
municipality of Tivat, which has a population of about 14,000, according to the 2011 census, of whom 9370 are in the center
of the municipality – the town of Tivat (the Statistical Office of Montenegro, 2012), located 3 km north-west of the airport.
Tivat Airport provides direct access to the travel destinations on this part of the Adriatic coast and has a key role in the devel-
opment of tourism in the area. The land immediately surrounding the airport is mainly undeveloped (it is not used for any
purpose), with some minor agricultural uses. The high coastal escarpment lies about 2 km to the north. The area to the south
of the airport is low lying and scrub covered and mainly undeveloped. Also parallel to the runway and to the south are lower
hill ranges, cutting the airport site off from the Adriatic Sea. The Bay of Kotor is immediately to the north west of the airport.
The terrain rises steeply in all directions around the bay, although the land to the south west, less than 8 km away from the
airport, is lower than to the north or east. The settlement of Bijela is situated on the north shore of the bay, with Krašići and
Bjelila on the south west shore of the bay. The airport is aligned with a valley which runs approximately south south-east
from Tivat. The valley sides rise steeply and form a ridge to the east with heights of 400–500 m. Further to the east beyond
this ridge the terrain continues to rise, with peaks at heights in the range 1300–1700 m. The terrain to the west of the valley
also rises, although less steeply and to maximum heights in the range 250–400 m. High density residential development
exists in the Tivat Township as well as along the Bay of Kotor, all of which fall within aircraft flight paths.
Current scheduled aircraft operations to Tivat comprise the Regional Jet, Fokker 100 (F100), DC9-30 and B373 types (Code
C aircraft). Holiday charter flights are operated by a range of aircraft including Tu154/134, B373 as well as larger aircraft such
as B757, B767 (Code D aircraft). The assessment reflects the current fleet mix based on 2030 forecast movements.
In accordance with the Tourism Development Strategy until 2020 (2008), a significant increase in the accommodation
capacity is projected on the coast of Montenegro in the coming period. In order for this plan to be realized, an adequate
capacity and level of service would have to be provided at Tivat Airport, which was the main task of the Urban development
plan for expanding the airport and the SEA, prepared parallel to the Urban plan, with the task of estimating the sustainability
of the planned solutions during their implementation. The key solutions in the airport expansion entailed increasing the
length of the runway and the construction of a new taxiway, thus providing the technical conditions required for the gradual
increase in the number of flights operated till the year 2030 (the planning horizon of the Urban plan). Based on the SEA
results, especially those concerning the projected increase in airport noise intensity as a consequence of the planned increase
in the number of flights operated, the decision-makers were provided with invaluable information that helped them to make
optimal decisions regarding the future spatial development of the area.
This paper continues with a presentation of the MCE method (Multi-Criteria Evaluation) applied in carrying out the SEA,
as well as the way in which the assessment of the territorial impact of airport noise was incorporated in this method.

3. Methodological framework

The concept of the SEA methodologies, unlike the diverse, precise, and highly operable tools used in environmental engi-
neering or other science-based areas, is rather fuzzy (Liou et al., 2006). Some authors (Therivel, 1996; Brown and Therivel,
2000; Partidario, 2000) have argued that there is no generalized SEA methodology applicable to all plans. Moreover, SEA
 B. Josimović et al. / Transportation Research Part D 49 (2016) 271–279 273

Fig. 1. The position of Tivat Airport.

techniques and methodologies should be treated as a set of tools in a ‘‘toolbox”, out of which each user can choose their own
tools depending on their particular needs (Brown and Therivel, 2000; Partidario, 2002). Based on the above considerations,
SEA is becoming a blooming interdisciplinary cross-sector field, in which integration and teamwork are emphasized. Gener-
ally speaking, SEA techniques and methodologies derive from the traditional Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and
policy appraisal/plan evaluation studies (Sheate et al., 2001; Partidario, 2002), ensuring that methodologies would not
become a barrier for institutional promotion of the SEA (UNEP, 2002). A variety of possible techniques for conducting the
different steps of SEA have been further analyzed and discussed by others (Partidario, 2002; Sadler and Verheem, 1996;
Therivel, 2004; UNEP, 2002). In addition, Marsden (2002) pointed out that, in terms of methodologies, SEA relies more on
qualitative consideration and techniques than traditional EIA, and thus, expert judgment plays a more crucial role. The issue
of selecting the appropriate assessment techniques and methodologies used in any specific case must be dealt with by refer-
ring to adequate implementation experiences accumulated through comparative studies of past schemes and applications
(Liou et al., 2006).
In the context of the above, the methodological framework employed in the SEA was based on a planning approach and
the application of a multi-criteria qualitative evaluation of the planned activities in relation to the capacity of the space as
the basis for valorizing the space for sustainable spatial development (Josimović et al., 2015), in combination with noise
modelling and the qualitative data obtained, which served as the basis for defining the evaluation criteria. The MCE method
274 B. Josimović et al. / Transportation Research Part D 49 (2016) 271–279

employed here was initially defined as part of the research project entitled ‘‘Methods for the Strategic Assessment of Envi-
ronmental Impacts in Planning”, led by the Institute of Architecture and Urban & Spatial Planning of Serbia (IAUS) and
financed by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development from 2005 to 2007, and subsequently developed through
several research projects that are still in progress.
The initial phase of the SEA was to analyze the planning document and identify the ‘‘zero” state of the environment using
GIS tools (see: Calvo et al., 2005; Higgs, 2006; Josimović and Krunić, 2008). On the basis of analytical actions the objectives of
the SEA and their corresponding indicators were determined, and the evaluation criteria were defined. In the SEA the impacts
of planning solutions were evaluated for: water quality, the coastal area, exposure of the population to polluted air, the land,
biodiversity and natural resources, the ambient value of the space, the waste management system, protection from acci-
dents, economic development and employment, and the health of the population due to the increased intensity of noise,
which is the subject of this study and one of the most significant stressors on the environment in this area. Specific criteria
were used to evaluate the impact of the planning solutions on the level of noise, whilst for the remaining environmental
parameters (air, water, effects on biodiversity, etc.) a standard scale was used for evaluating the impact in relation to the:
impact strength, territorial distribution of impacts, probability of impacts.
Illustrative Tables 1 and 2 present excerpts from the SEA tables that refer solely to the consideration of noise.
In formulating the objectives and indicators to assess the impact of noise from the expansion of Tivat Airport (Table 1),
the following were taken into account: the ‘‘zero” state with the noise levels from 2010 in the vicinity of the airport; the
Directive on Environmental Noise (2002/49/EC); the Law on Protection against Environmental Noise (2012), Rules on
limit values of environmental noise, the method of determining the noise indicators and acoustic zones, and methods of
assessing the harmful effects of noise (2012); Guidelines for Community Noise (WHO, 1999).
An analysis of the possibilities for implementing primarily a spatial, but also a problematic, consideration of the possible
impacts of airport noise, resulted in 4 groups of criteria being formed in the SEA with a total of 10 individual criteria related
to: the size (intensity) of the impact, the spatial dimensions (spatial dispersion) reached by the impact, the probability that
an estimated impact will happen in reality, and the frequency (duration) of the impact (Table 2).
Based on the above objectives, indicators and criteria, a multi-criteria evaluation (semi quantitative method) of all of the
planning solutions from the Urban development plan was carried out. The planning solutions concerning different variants
for the spatial disposition of the planned taxiway and other buildings planned at the airport in relation to the Tivatska Solila
special nature reserve (sensitive area) were assessed through the multi-criteria evaluation of the variant solutions from the
Urban plan for all of the environmental parameters (in particular noise), in order to choose the best solutions that would not
jeopardize the habitat within the reserve. This resulted in variants for development that limited the spatial development of
the airport towards the borders of the special nature reserve and did not allow the destruction of its borders situated in the
contact zone of the airport. Matrices were formed in the SEA in which all of the planning solutions were crossed with the
objectives of the SEA and expert evaluation on the basis of 4 groups of criteria.
To undertake the aircraft noise assessment a digital model was constructed using an ECAC accredited IMMI German civil
aircraft noise model. IMMI is fully compliant with the latest European guidance on noise modelling (ECAC.CEAC Doc 29, 2005
and National German methods: AzB/AzB-L and DIN 45684). This guidance document represents the internationally agreed
best practice as implemented in modern aircraft noise models. The IMMI program system is a detailed noise mapping soft-
ware system, which also simulates noise events. This program provides algorithms to calculate noise propagation from var-
ious types of sound. IMMI supports the standard data-acquisition system for airports and airfields, which significantly
simplifies and speeds up data preparation and input, making simulation and frequent calculation of reception points with
new input data extremely facile and fast (IMMI, 2016). The application of the IMMI noise model was deemed an appropriate
model to use given the mountainous terrain surrounding the airport and the model’s ability to incorporate varying topo-
graphical contours into data sets.

4. Results

The assessment of the increase in and spatial dispersion of noise as a result of the expansion of Tivat Airport is based on a
forecast of the volume of traffic from the Master Plan of Montenegro airports (MAMPU, 2010). An illustrative example of the
results of evaluating the impact of the planning solution ‘‘Increase the number of flights operated” in comparison with the
SEA objective ‘‘reduce the exposure of the population to increased noise level”, with time intervals of 5 years to 2030 is given
in Table 3. The given planning solution implies an increase in noise, which is assessed in relation to the values from 2010
(‘‘zero state”).
For the purposes of the SEA, a model of spatial dispersion of noise generated by aircraft (during take-off and landing) at
the airport was developed, after which mapping was carried out (Fig. 2). Particular consideration was given to whether the
noise contours cover the municipal area of Tivat and other settlements and to what extent. During this analysis, existing leg-
islation was taken into account that concerns how the problem of environmental noise is treated in Montenegro, as well as
EU guidelines on this issue and the Environmental Noise Directive (2002/49/EC), which includes the development of ‘‘strate-
gic noise maps” for airports using harmonized noise indicators Lden.1 These maps are used to assess how many people are

1
Night flights are currently not possible at the airport due to lack of night landing navigation aids and airport lighting. For this reason, in the assessment of
the effects of noise, the values of Lnight are not taken into account.
 B. Josimović et al. / Transportation Research Part D 49 (2016) 271–279 275

Table 1
An excerpt from the table ‘‘The aims and indicators of the SEA” which refers to noise. Source: The SEA of the Urban development plan for the expansion of Tivat
Airport.

SEA area SEA aim Indicator

Population and To reduce the exposure of the population to The number of people exposed to increased noise levels with the possibility of
human health increased noise levels health problems related to the noise

Table 2
An excerpt from the table ‘‘The criteria for assessing the impact of airport noise”. Source: The SEA of the Urban development plan for the expansion of Tivat
Airport.

Criteria Rank Description

Degree of impact
Significant -3 Significant burden to the spatial capacity (an increased level of noise above 4 dB compared to the existing level)
Greater -2 Disrupts the environment to a greater extent (an increased level of noise between 3 and 4 dB compared to the existing level)
Lesser -1 Disrupts the environment to a lesser extent (an increased level of noise below 3 dB compared to the existing level)
Spatial dispersion of the impact
Municipal M Possible impact on the whole municipality
Local L Possible impact in specific locations
Probability of the impact
100% Ce Certain impact
Over 50% Pr Probable impact
Below 50% Po Possible impact
Frequency of the impact
Occasional O Occasional impact
Constant Co Constant impact

Table 3
Excerpt from the Table ‘‘The identification and evaluation of the impacts of the planning solutions on the environment”. Source: The SEA of the Urban
development plan for the expansion of Tivat Airport.

Plan solution Impact Explanation

SEA aim Year Rank
Increase the number Reduce exposure of the 2015 M/- Occasional lesser negative impacts are probable across most of the
of flights population to increased noise 1/Pr/ municipality
operated level O
2020 M/- Occasional lesser negative impacts are probable across most of the
2/Pr/ municipality, and greater negative impacts of a local nature in certain
O localities
2025 M/- Occasional greater negative impacts are probable across most of the
2/Pr/ municipality and lesser negative impacts of a local nature in certain localities
O
2030 M/- Occasional significant negative impacts of a local nature are probable but
3/Pr/ only in certain smaller localities, and lesser negative impacts across most of
O the municipality

upset by noise and how many have health problems associated with an increase in the noise intensity. The guidelines for com-
munity noise were taken into account, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO, 1999). A model was constructed in
IMMI which used the input data relating to the terrain (topography), buildings and other features of the terrain. The forecast
number of flights to be operated was added to this, which included the type of aircraft, route of flights, the distribution of
take-offs and landings and flights during the day (night flights are currently not possible at Tivat Airport due to the lack of night
landing navigation aids and airport lighting). Noise modelling took into account the different types of aircraft that will operate
at Tivat Airport in the planning period up to 2030 (TAANA, 2011).
The noise levels were predicted for 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030 on the basis of expected flights (Table 4). From this the
noise contours were calculated that show the expected noise levels for sensitive receptors, as well as changes in noise expo-
sure over time. The nature and number of flights operated at Tivat Airport as input data for the model were considered, in
particular: the predicted number of flights operated; structure of the aircraft fleet; distribution of landings and take-offs,
including the flight routes; and expected daily operations. The assessment is entirely based on forecasts of traffic flow from
the Master plan for the development of the airport, and the most optimistic forecasts for the increased number of flights
were taken for the noise modelling in order to provide output data for the ‘‘worst case scenario”. Predictions for the changes
in the level of noise generated by aircraft were made by means of computer modelling whereby a comparison was made of
the current and projected numbers of flights operated to and from the airport. The assessment of the noise levels from the
276 B. Josimović et al. / Transportation Research Part D 49 (2016) 271–279

Fig. 2. Noise changes prediction for 2015 and 2020.

Table 4
Forecast 2015–2030 for LTO/year cycles and structure of the aircraft fleet.

Year Seats Aircraft Type 2015 2020 2025 2030

Medium WB 300 B762/763/IL86 298 454 544 575
Large NB 220 B757/Tu214 877 1355 1629 1723
Medium NB 165 A319/B738 3235 4164 4721 4916
Small NB 110 ARV/E192/F100 3043 2943 2940 2945
Large turboprop 60 ATR/CRJ 1225 1343 1428 1459
Small turboprop 19 E120 0 0 0 0
Total 8678 10,259 11,262 11,618
 B. Josimović et al. / Transportation Research Part D 49 (2016) 271–279 277

aircraft was compared to the level considered to be the maximum acceptable level for this type of activity, which is 70 dB
LAeq, 1 h.
The development proposals for Tivat Airport assume that there will be no change in the distribution of models or in the
take-off/landing runways, and therefore the noise levels predicted for 2015 (Fig. 2) and subsequent years have an increase of
34% in the total number of flights operated, with a transition to larger aircraft (B767, IL86, B757 and Tu214 fleet). It is antic-
ipated that the number of F100/E195 flights operated will decrease slightly from current levels. As a result, the predicted
noise map for the year 2015 has a great similarity to the situation in 2011 based on the number of flights operated. The pro-
jected increase in the noise level is in the range of 1.5–2.5 dB Lden in relation to the current situation across most of the
urban areas of Tivat, Bijela, Krašići i Bjelila. These noise values are considered to be below the threshold of human sensitivity,
and it would therefore be unlikely for there to be any significant impact. The increase in the noise for Radanoviće and Lastva
Grbaljska is less than 2 dB Lden, which is also below the threshold of human sensitivity.
The situation in 2020 (Table 5, Fig. 2) represents an increase of 69% in the total number of flights operated in relation to
2011, and the continued transition to larger aircraft. The predicted noise levels for 2020 show an increase of 3.0–3.5 dB Lden
in relation to the current situation, and a small area either side of the runway is subject to an increase of up to 3.9 dB Lden.
An increase in the intensity of noise in the range of 2–3.9 dB would expose a total of 13,172 inhabitants (Table 4), and this
number is higher during the summer tourist season when the highest number of airline operations takes place.
A slowdown in the rate of growth is anticipated by 2025, with an increase of 75% in the total number of flights operated
compared to the figures from 2011. This is an increase of only 6% compared to the forecasts for 2020, and therefore the pre-
dicted noise levels are very similar to those of 2020. The predicted noise levels are increased by 3–4 dB compared to the noise
levels from 2010, which would be considered just noticeable to most people.
From the modelling for 2030 it is clear that the impact of airport noise on the environment will result in a relatively small
increase in noise exposure from aircraft as a result of the increased number of take-offs and landings over time. The pre-
dicted noise levels for 2030 show an increase of 3.5–4.0 dB Lden over the current situation, with a small area either side
of the runway subject to increases of up to 4.4 dB Lden.

5. Discussion

It is generally acknowledged that whilst commercial aircraft will become more efficient and noticeably quieter over the
next twenty years this reduction in noise will off-set by growth in aircraft movements during the same period. The Master
plan confirms that Montenegro Airlines is trying to introduce new, quieter and more efficient aircraft, while the market for
low-cost carriers is also characterized by similar efficient aircraft. This should result in a reduction of noise in the short term
and then the noise level being maintained at about the current level until 2030. 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 per-
iod, as well as the types of aircraft (Table 4).
The values of the forecasts of the spatial dispersion of noise obtained were evaluated in relation to the SEA criteria
(Table 2) and in this way the ranking of the impacts was determined (Table 3). In addition to identifying the expected impact
of noise resulting from an increase in the number of flights operated in the planning period, within the framework of the SEA,
and based on a consideration of the other planning solutions that were not the focus of this study, other positive and neg-
ative effects of the planned concepts were pointed out in relation to the objectives of the SEA. In this context, the economic
and other benefits to Tivat as a result of the development of the airport, and indeed to Montenegro as a whole, should be
mentioned as a counterbalance to the negative effects of the noise level.
Urban development was not the subject of the Urban development plan for expanding Tivat Airport (Montenegro). This
aspect is considered within the framework of the Spatial-urban plan of the municipality of Tivat,2 which is a plan of higher
hierarchical rank, and which was completed in 2010. Regardless of this fact, the SEA looked at the wider context of possible
impacts, including the possible cumulative and synergetic effects with the existing and planned activities in the impact area
of the airport. In this context, the SEA explicitly states that urban development around Tivat Airport and along the length of
the flight route needs to be planned in such a way that it avoids the location of activities incompatible with vulnerable facilities
(health facilities, housing, facilities for rest and relaxation, educational institutions, etc.), in order to preventatively reduce the
impact of exposure of the population to an increased level of noise in the impact area of the airport.
When considering the predictions on the increase in the level of noise in the area of the Tivatska Solila special nature
reserve, there are a number of examples of how an airport can function in the vicinity of an IBA (Important Bird Area).
An illustration of this is the Atlantic City Airport (New Jersey, USA) situated in an IBA. On the other hand, studies have been
carried out on the reaction of birds to noise (Pepper et al., 2003; Kight and Swaddle, 2011) indicating the possible physical
damage to the sound receptors, the creation of stress, changes in flight patterns and in the search for food sources, as well as
other behavioral changes, even in the reproduction of birds, although they also highlight the adaptability of flying fauna if

2
In the spatial urban plan for the municipality of Tivat, special attention is given to the conceptual solutions for the future spatial and urban development of
the municipality and the limitation of activities in the contact zone of Tivat Airport, in order to avoid the impact of the airport as a result of the synergy with
activities resulting from urban development.
278 B. Josimović et al. / Transportation Research Part D 49 (2016) 271–279

Table 5
Changes in the level of noise over 2 dB in the impact area of Tivat Airport to 2020 (for
settlements over 100 inhabitants).

Settlement Number of inhabitants Scope of the expected noise increase (dB)

Kavač 678 3–3,9
Kotor 974 2–2.4
Mrčevac 2130 3.5–3.9
Tivat 9390 3.5–3.9
Total 13,172

the changes are not very great (Warren et al., 2006). In the present case, the predictions of the noise values for the time hori-
zon to 2030 in the area of the Tivatska Solila indicate that the situation will not be very different from the existing one, in
which the wildlife has already adapted to the presence of airport noise. This optimistic estimate has certainly been con-
tributed to by the choice of the variant solution for the development of the airport that limits the activities in close contact
with the airport zone and protected area. However, if there had been no contribution made by the SEA, it is hard to believe
that the protection of birds would have been placed before the economic interests of the wider society in a project such as
the expansion of Tivat Airport.
By presenting the results of the SEA in the way that the aspect of noise has been presented here, the actors in the planning
process (the public NGO, business people, entrepreneurs, decision-makers, etc.) have been able to gain insight into the
potential and the limitations of the development of Tivat Airport and the positive and negative effects that such a develop-
ment would involve. A particular contribution to making decisions regarding the acceptance or rejection of ideas on the
development of Tivat Airport, in addition to the multi-criteria evaluation presented here, was also made by the transparency
of the planning process that allowed the participation of the interested public in all phases of the SEA. Institutions, NGOs and
individuals interested in taking part in the SEA process had the right to access to this document through public hearings over
a period of 30 days, after which a public presentation of the SEA was organized in which it was possible for dialogue to take
place on the key problems and recommendation for their solution. Those actively involved in this process were institutions
(Montenegro Airports, Air Traffic Control Serbia and Montenegro - SMATSA, the Municipality of Tivat), individuals and expert
members of the public who were most interested in the specific planning solutions, predictions on the increase in noise and
the strict protection of the border with the Tivatska Solila special nature reserve. There were no negative comments about
the solution and results of the SEA and its contribution to selecting the preferred variant solution for the spatial development
of the airport. After the public debate, the final decision on the adoption of the SEA was made by the Montenegro agency for
environmental protection after a positive reaction from the spatial planning committee – an independent expert body of the
Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism Montenegro. Based on the results (methodological and procedural) of the
phases of the SEA and on the idea that each development, even if it is sustainable, implies certain changes in the environment
and space, and also that in this case the changes do not significantly burden the capacity of the space, and yet they bring
many opportunities for the economic development of this area, the Montenegro Government made the decision about
the acceptability of the development project for the Tivat Airport.

6. Conclusion

The methodological approach presented in this paper points to the possibility of evaluating the impact of individual plan-
ning solutions which, because of the dominant (mainly negative) impacts, should be the focus of SEA. Here the evaluation of
the impact of airport noise has been presented. The specificity of this approach lies in its identification of objectives, indi-
cators and criteria for the multi-criteria evaluation of the planning solution ‘‘increase the number of flights operated” in rela-
tion to an increase in the intensity of noise in the planning period. As support to this process, a digital model was applied to
the analysis of the spatial dispersion of the noise, and the results were displayed graphically, allowing all stakeholders in the
planning process to gain clear insight into the expected changes. The semi-quantitative method and graphical presentation
of the results are particularly suitable for use in the SEA process, since SEA is an instrument for making optimal decisions on
sustainable environmental development. By means of results obtained in this way, guidelines are obtained for the spatial
development of the area located in the impact zone of the airport in terms of restrictions in the planning of vulnerable build-
ings in areas with elevated levels of airport noise. In addition, in this way, unambiguous insight into the effects of the plan-
ning solution is achieved.

Acknowledgment

This paper has resulted from the research conducted within the scientific projects ‘‘Spatial, ecological, energy, as well as
social aspects of settlement development and climate change – their mutual impacts”, TR 36035 financed by the Ministry of
Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia in the period 2011–2016.
 B. Josimović et al. / Transportation Research Part D 49 (2016) 271–279 279

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