Are environmental safeguards for London City Airport strong enough?
On 1st December the GLA’s Environmental Committee will meet to look at how well new environmental controls around the City Airport are currently working, and if they would continue to be effective if the number of flights increases. The LCY now has permission from Newham Council to increase the number of flights from the current level of 73,000 to 120,000 per year, subject to tougher environmental controls for air quality and noise levels – which is likely to adversely affect residents in many London boroughs.
30 NOVEMBER 2011 (GLA)
What measures are being put in place around London City Airport (LCY) to reduce air and noise pollution for local residents now and in the future?
Building on its previous work[1], the London Assembly’s Environment Committee will hold a public meeting tomorrow[2] to look at how well new environmental controls are currently working, and if they would continue to be effective if the number of flights increases.
The LCY now has permission from Newham Council to increase the number of flights from the current level of 73,000 to 120,000 per year, subject to tougher environmental controls for air quality and noise levels.
Residents across Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Greenwich, Hackney, Havering, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest are likely to be affected by an increase in flights.
The following guests will attend:
- Richard Gooding, OBE, – Chief Executive, London City Airport
- Stephen Moorcroft – Director, Air Quality Consultants
- Peter Henson – Partner, Bickerdike Allen Partners (noise specialist)
- John East – Divisional Director for Development Services, London Borough of Newham
- Jennifer Bishop – Airport Monitoring Officer, London Borough of Newham
The meeting will take place on Thursday, 1 December from 10am in the Chamber at City Hall (The Queen’s Walk, London SE1). Media and members of the public are invited to attend. The meeting can also be viewed via webcast.
Notes for Editors:
- See the Committee’s previous and current work on Heathrow expansion and noise and air pollution.
- See the full agenda for the meeting
- Read more about the Committee’s work on City Airport
- The Chair of the Environment Committee, Murad Qureshi AM, is available for interview.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
City Airport
Our Environment Committee is looking at measures London City Airport has in place to mitigate air and noise pollution around the airport and how it will manage any increases in pollution levels in the future.
Coming up
The Committee is next planning to discuss the issue at its meeting on 1 December when it hopes to gain greater understanding of the impact of the airport’s monitoring processes and explore how it anticipates managing any likely environmental impacts if flights increase following economic recovery.
Our investigation
In July 2009, the London Borough of Newham gave London City Airport planning permission to increase annual flights to 120,000 annually, subject to strict environmental controls and monitoring. Our Environment Committee decided to carry out a review of the monitoring processes any action by the airport to mitigate any environmental impacts.
In January 2010, a campaigning group Fight the Flights launched a legal challenge to the planning permission, which was concluded this year, when Newham’s decision was upheld.
Since the Committee decided to carry out its review, flight numbers have fallen [ no, they have not, see below] due to the global recession and the closure of airspace because of volcanic ash in 2010.
The latest Annual Performance Report from the airport reported that during 2010 the statutory pollution limits for air quality were not exceeded. It also set out progress on measures to mitigate noise pollution and noted that ground running noise levels during 2010 were below the limit of 60dB.
For more information, read the background briefing report
http://www.london.gov.uk/city-airport
London City Airport passenger data from the CAA www.caa.co.uk/airportstatistics and
Anna Aero data for UK airports for 2009, 2010 and 2011
2011 passengers
2 780 716 in 2010
Jan -18.4% Feb -0.6% Mar -6.7% April 31.5% (ash cloud effect) May 10.8% June 2.4% July 7.2% Aug 10.3% Sept 6.7% Oct 4.0%
2010 passengers
2.797,000 in 2009
Jan -7.9% Feb 5.9% Mar 7.0% April -27.1% May 2.1% June 10.6% July 8.5% Aug 15.8% Sept 8.8% Oct 0.8% Nov -6.2% Dec -25.0%