Night flights campaign gathers pace

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Councillor Lister's diary.......

Judging by the emails I am getting on the subject, people are getting fed up with the noise from the jumbo jets which start coming in to land over our heads every morning at about 4.30am.

Now, just when people thought the problem could not get any worse, a new government consultation document on noise controls looks like paving the way for a three-fold hike in the number of arrivals before 6am.

Given the clout wielded by the airlines, it is easy to assume that the proposal to change the current noise limits is less to do with making life quieter and more to do with allowing more aircraft to fly.

We reckon the number of arrivals before 6am could easily go up from the present number (16) to 50 or more.

Whether you live in Battersea or Putney the question is the same:

Is the economic benefit derived from these 16 early morning flights really so great that it can possibly justify putting at risk the health of the 1/2 million people who live under the flightpath?


The current consultation is in two stages with the first concluding on October 29. Please do not wait for our meeting to register your concern about rising numbers of night flights. Write now to Department for Transport Aviation, Environmental Division 2, Zone 1/34, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR or send an email to nightrestrictions@dft.gsi.gov.uk



October 5, 2004