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Who we are...LAANC, the Local Authorities Aircraft Noise Council, was founded in the 1960s as an umbrella local authority organisation representing the interests of residents around Heathrow. The objectives of LAANC are to examine all problems arising from the nuisance of aircraft noise, both in-flight and on the ground. An Executive Committee and Director provide a focus for the work of the Council which is self-financing from member subscriptions. No full-time staff are employed, but through a unique working partnership local authority officers and elected members, LAANC has achieved recognition as an expert body in the area of aircraft noise. LAANC sends representatives to both the main Heathrow Airport Consultative Committee (HACC) and technical working groups. Although representing the interest of the community, LAANC is not just another pressure group. Within LAANC membership is to be found a considerable body of expertise; most of the local authority experts on aircraft noise are to be found within LAANC. MembershipMembership comprises the London Boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth. The unitary authorities of Slough and of Windsor and Maidenhead. The borough and or district council of Chiltern, Elmbridge and Spelthorne. The parish and town councils of Colnbrook with Poyle, Cookham, Datchet, Farnham Royal, Horton, Hurley, Iver, Old Windsor, Taplow, Winkfield, Wokingham and Wraysbury. Why the Government has it wrong over aircraft noiseThe Government is wrong over aircraft noise because it believes what noise contours tell it. Since the 1980s the Government has used computers to draw contours indicating the amount of noise energy experienced at various locations around the airport. Over the years the total area affected by the contours has shrunk bringing the noise contours nearer to the airport. The logical conclusion therefore, according to the Government computers and their operators, is that the noise climate around Heathrow had improved. But this is utterly wrong. The reality is that school lessons are disrupted, musical concerts are interrupted and peaceful days shattered by overhead aeroplanes, but the Government's computers only acknowledge the noise energy they record, they cannot translate into everyday annoyance. Over the last 20 years the number of passenger flights arriving and departing at Heathrow has risen 67% from 283,000 to 476,000 a year. That’is an extra 485 flights a day. Night flights have increased by over 62% during the same period.
About 20,000 members of the public told the Heathrow Terminal 5 planning inquiry that in their opinion the NUISANCE caused by aircraft noise had increased in the last decade, not decreased. No-one came forward to say it had improved. No-one, that is, except the Government's senior civil servants and the airport operators BAA, all of whom use the computerised noise energy tabulations on which to base their conclusions.
Second, the contours do not attach the proper weight to the disturbance caused by the numbers of aircraft flying overhead. According to the current noise measuring system, people's annoyance with aircraft noise would be the same with 100,000 planes a year flying above them as it would with, say, 500,000 so long as there was no increase in total noise energy. What's so frustrating is that there is an easy way to measure the impact of aircraft noise on people. You simply ask them. Around Heathrow, the last "annoyance" surveys were carried out in the 1980s. Yet, since then the impact of Heathrow on its neighbours has changed dramatically. The human experience of aircraft noise is inevitably subjective. It cant be understood and measured simply by the scientific technique of calculating average energy contours. Social surveys are a better method of measuring the nature, distribution and intensity of the subjective responses to aircraft noise within a population. It is only by asking people as well as computers that the Government can make any noise consultation worthwhile. The Government has decided to support the case for constructing a new 3rd runway at Heathrow. LAANC believes that even the new 2 km "short" runway that is proposed will be devastating for the local community. The airlines claim that the short runway will be for smaller and less noisy aircraft to use but the reality is that most aircraft currently flying into Heathrow would be able to use it for landing.
No further terminalsTerminal 5 is capable of handling more passengers than Gatwick Airport does today. LAANC argued all along that if T5 were to be permitted, the airlines would not be satisfied and would continue their relentless pressure for an even bigger Heathrow. LAANC believes that Terminal 5 should be the last major development at Heathrow. We believe the airport has now truly reached the limit of its expansion, and cannot support the government proposals for further expansion. No night flightsLAANC supports residents who continue to fight for a ban on night flights at Heathrow. Some 16 or so flights arrive every morning at Heathrow before 6am (over 50 before 7am). The Government continues to claim that few people living around Heathrow Airport have their sleep disturbed by these flights. The Terminal 5 inspector did not however agree and neither do the tens of thousands of people living around the airport who have their sleep disrupted on a daily basis. Everyone has a basic right to a decent night's sleep - a right denied to so many by the arrival of aircraft from four o'clock in the morning. Surely, in a civilised society, it is not beyond the capability of a modern industry and a caring Government to stop night flights disturbing so many.. HeathrowHeathrow is owned and operated by the Ferovial Group, a subsiduary of BAA plc (formerly British Airports Authority). The company was privatised in 1997. You can find out more about the airport by visiting the BAA website. The airport has two main east-west runways. At any one time one is being used for departures and the other for arrivals. Operations are reversed at around 3pm each day. The pattern is also changed weekly so that the runway used for departures in the mornings one week is used for arrivals in the following week. This alternation provides considerable relief for residents living close to the airport. The system works well when the wind is from the west. Westerly operations mean that landing aircraft approach Heathrow from the east passing over central London. Departing aircraft go out over Windsor. When the wind is from the east landing aircraft approach from over Windsor. Departing aircraft always use the southern runway and depart to the east. Some of these go out directly over Tooting. The northern runway used not to be used for departures to the east. This is because of the long-standing 'Cranford Agreement' which seeks to protect houses close to the end of this runway. http://www.baa.co.uk/ The Heathrow Consultative CommitteeHeathrow is a 'designated airport'. This means that the Government effectively controls how the airport may operate in terms of numbers of flights, when it can open and how many flights are permitted. All designated airports have by law to establish a local consultative committee. Local authorities adjoining the airport are represented on the Heathrow Consultative Committee (HACC). It also includes airport representatives and others from the travel industry and passenger groups. LAANC is also represented on the HACC. If you would like to learn more about what the committee does visit their website at: http://www.lhr-acc.org/ Protection not expansionHeathrow plays a vital role in the west London economy. It is the single biggest source of jobs in the area. The council wants to see Heathrow thrive and prosper. Few local people may derive their employment from the airport but many of us enjoy the benefits of air travel and the relative accessibility of Heathrow. The issue for the council is how best to manage Heathrow's insatiable desire for growth - and how to ensure that residents living under the flight path are protected from the inevitable noise nuisance that goes with a busy airport. Terminal 5The council together with many others in London and the South East opposed the plan for a fifth terminal. After a long running inquiry the current Government pronounced in favour of the expansion in November 2001, and it opened to passengers in March 2008. The inquiry which opened in May 1995 and included 525 days of hearings spread over 46 months. The additional terminal will handle as many passengers as Gatwick. The inquiry inspector admitted in his findings that on safety grounds expansion at Gatwick or Stansted would have been preferable. A third runway?The Government's has recently confirmed proposals for a third runway at Heathrow and others at Stansted and Gatwick. The Heathrow runway could be built by 2015 of air pollution targets can be met. The current proposals also opens up the prospect of a substantial increase in flights at Heathrow before 2015. This would be achieved by allowing both existing runways to be used at the same time for landings and take offs. Currently one runway is used for take-offs and the other for landings. This gives people at either end of the runways some relief during the day from aeroplanes coming in overhead. You can read the Government proposals on the DFT website. The council identified a number of serious flaws in the white paper and, working with other local authorities, challenged its legality in the High Court. These criticisms are contained in a report to councillors prepared by the Director and you can read the report here in full. The case was heard in December 2004. The judge ruled that aspects of the runway proposals at Luton and Stansted were unlawful. At Heathrow he confirmed that only a short-length runway should be built and that any proposals to end runway alternation (thus allowing an extra 16m passengers a year) should be the subject of full consultation. BAA released a report entitled 'Heathrow Airport - interim Master Plan - Draft for Consultation - June 2005' in which they lay out their plans for the expansion of the airport. You can download a copy here in Adobe's pdf format. Heathrow Airport - interim Master Plan - Draft for Consultation - June 2005 (2.4 mb) The conservative party, the Mayor of London and the 2M Group of Local Authorities have stated that a 3rd runway should not be built. http://www.dft.gov.uk/results?view=Filter&h=m&m=4551&pg=1 A new Thames Gateway airport?The council believes there is now growing doubt as to the reliability of the Government's forecasts on future demand for air travel - particularly if new aviation fuel taxes and emissions limits are introduced. If demand is to be met on the scale envisaged there are better ways of doing this than by simply adding extra runways at existing airports where the noise and other environmental problems affect so many people. The Government white paper rejected a proposal to build a second hub airport at Cliffe in North Kent. However a study commissioned by the council has shown that two other Thames Gateway airports - Thames Reach and Sheppey - could provide much greater economic benefits. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is now supporting funding a study on the viability of a Thames airport. Prior to publication of the white paper both the council and the local authorities' aviation group (SASIG) had asked the Government to include both these alternatives in a fresh round of consultation. Instead the white paper said there was no case for a new hub airport. SASIG shares the council's total objection to expansion at Heathrow and argues that the only long term answer is to build a new airport in the Thames Gateway. This could provide fast links to London and the Channel Tunnel Rail link from a location where the impact of flights overhead would affect very limited numbers of people. Visit the SASIG website at http://www.sasig.org. The council's detailed response to the SERAS consultation is available below. Council's response to consultation on Air Transport DevelopmentThe Government consulted during Summer 2005 on a new night flights regime which would run for six years from the end of October 2006. At the beginning of September 2006 Wandsworth, Richmond and Windsor councils launched judicial review proceedings in the High Court to challenge the fairness of the proposals. This follows an earlier challenge to the first stage of the consultation in December 2004. The Government then was forced to concede in court that it could take into account the real noise levels caused by flights landing at Heathrow before 6am when considering restrictions. The climbdown was prompted by the council's revelation that the true noise level of 747-400s with Rolls Royce engines was 74 per cent higher than the prescribed limit. Sadly the second stage consultation made no attempt to address these flaws in the night noise controls. Indeed there are now proposals to increase the average number of daily arrivals before 6am from 16 to 18. European Court challengeThe council has campaigned for many years for a complete ban on night flights. In October 2001 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that night flights violated human rights and that the UK Government was wrong to have put economic arguments ahead of environmental concerns. Following the UK Government's appeal, this ruling was overturned. The decision was announced on July 8, 2003. The council helped to raise £3100,000 from other local authorities to help meet the legal costs of the two hearings. You can see the latest judgment of Hatton and Others v UK Government by visiting the ECHR website at: http://www.echr.coe.int/ Civil Aviation BillAt the same time as it is consulted on a new round of night flight restrictions the Government is seeking powers in the Civil Aviation Bill to relax the numbers limit on early morning arrivals. Putney MP Justine Greening made a major speech in the House of Commons opposing this relaxation which she said was inconsistent with the stated objectives of the night flights consultation. What to do about aircraft noiseThe British Airports Authority runs a 24 hour seven day week noise line at Heathrow. You can call this on 0800 344844 to report noisy aircraft. During office hours you can normally speak to a member of BAAs Flight Evaluation Unit who will try to help you. This unit deals with a wide range of airport related issues from noise to flight numbers and flight paths. BAA regularly publishes maps showing where complaints come from - so it is worth reporting all local problems. You may also want to contact the campaign group Heathrow Association for Control of Aircraft Noise (HACAN). The council and HACAN worked together on the night flights case. You can reach them on 020 8876 0455 or visit their website. http://www.hacan.org.uk/ |