** NOW before the vote on the 3rd runway next week sometime, here are some points you may like to make to your MP and, for those in SE London, local council Leader
Dear MP
It is widely acknowledged (even by those involved in airport administration and by airline executives) that Heathrow Airport (LHR) was built in the wrong place: i.e. its geographic location in relation to the conurbation of London means that the majority of flights using one of the biggest airports in the world are required to follow flight paths directly over London’s dense population.
Nothing can be done about the historic misjudgement of LHR’s location in relation to London’s inhabitants.
What CAN be done – and must be incumbent upon today’s Government, LHR airport authorities, airline companies/operatives – is to ensure that the utmost consideration is given to devise flight paths and schedules that will alleviate the aircraft noise which currently afflicts the lives of a huge swathe of London’s citizens.
Many in SE London experience simultaneous overflight below 4000 feet to more than one airport (Heathrow and London City) and this fact is currently ignored by LHR, LCY, NATs, CAA and DfT when talking about airport expansion.
Whether or not airport expansion goes ahead at either Heathrow or London City or both I would like you to insist on the immediate implementation of:
- a total ban on night flights i.e. nothing landing or taking off between 10pm – 7am
- a total rejection of the current concentration of flight paths and a return to the pre-2013 pattern of operations
- a total rejection of the proposed Performance Based Navigation system
- steeper angle of take offs and landings to reduce the length and range of plane noise on those affected by departures and arrivals
- separate areas of operation for Heathrow and City over SE London
It is unacceptable that
- Aircraft numbers increase without the public having a say
- No organisation listens to community concerns
- Nobody appears represents my interests to my local airports
- DEFRA, Dept for Health and Dept for Transport refuse to take any responsibility for the unconsulted changes being forced on us
If you need convincing:
This is what friends have told me they experience 18 miles from Heathrow (LBC clip – 2 mins): https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/clive-bull/callers-proof-of-how-loud-it-is-heathrow/
I would like you to read and act on the blogs written as part of the Plane Hell Action campaign, which document the lived experience of residents (like myself) who live in South East London and are overflown both by planes destined for arrival at London Heathrow and London City: Plane Hell Action and SouthwarkCan.
Environment – the future is at stake if Heathrow is expanded. CO2 emissions from this one UK airport alone will be greater than from the whole of Chile or Portugal. Global warming, unchecked, will melt the icecap, reduce grain production to 50%. It is short sighted to expand our economy for the current generation when there will be no future for our children and children’s children.
& for non-Londoners: please encourage your MP to understand how their vote can mitigate the current situation of so many:
Should any form of expansion go ahead at any of the UK airports I urge you to ensure, before voting on the Heathrow issue, that points 1 – 5 above are confirmed and implemented immediately – even if MPs vote not to proceed with a 3rd runway at Heathrow.
Absolutely no community should be forced to endure unbroken aviation noise, often 24 hours a day, usually 19 hours: a comparative ‘few’ (1 million in SE London) sacrificed for business purposes from which they gain nothing. We are all tax payers. We all have a human right to enjoy our lives. We all have a right to relief from plane noise.
Yours sincerely
Name, Address, Date
- I have been distressed by aircraft noise for …… years /
- I have friends whose lives have been turned upside down over night by flight path changes and do not wish this to happen to your electorate or my community.
- I am affected by: Heathrow/London City/Other