At London City Airport Inquiry, HACAN East calls for noise insulation to match the best in Europe
HACAN East, the resident-led group opposing expansion of London City Airport called for insulation offered by City Airport to match the best in Europe. The call came during the opening week of the Public Inquiry into the airport’s expansion plans. John Stewart, Chair of HACAN East, said: “If expansion goes ahead the number of people overflown by City Airport planes will be higher than that of any airport in the UK, other than Heathrow and Manchester. Airports like Frankfurt or Charles de Gaulle in Paris are twice as generous with the insulation schemes offered to residents as London City.” City Airport wants to enlarge its infrastructure to allow use by larger aircraft. Newham Council gave permission for the airport to expand in February 2015, but this was overturned by Boris Johnson on noise grounds the following month. The airport appealed against his decision. The result is this public inquiry. Lawyers for the Mayor argued in the opening week of the Inquiry that City Airport should compensate more people than it is prepared to do, if its expansion is allowed. HACAN East said they are concerned about the residents and communities outside the 57LAeq 16hr contour. Many of these people experience significant aircraft noise, but there is nothing in the airport’s application to deal with those impacts.
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City Airport Public Inquiry: HACAN East calls for insulation to match the best in Europe
March 22, 2016 (HACAN East press release)
HACAN East, the resident-led group opposing expansion of London City Airport called for insulation offered by City Airport to match the best in Europe. The call came during the opening week of the Public Inquiry into the airport’s expansion plans.
John Stewart, Chair of HACAN East, said: “We are calling for London City Airport to offer compensation for residents that matches the levels offered by the best airports in Europe. If expansion goes ahead the number of people overflown by City Airport planes will be higher than that of any airport in the UK, other than Heathrow and Manchester. Airports like Frankfurt or Charles de Gaulle in Paris are twice as generous with the insulation schemes offered to residents as London City.”
City Airport wants to enlarge the airport to allow larger aircraft to use it. Newham Council, the planning authority, gave permission for the airport to expand in February 2015, but this was overturned by Boris Johnson, London’s mayor, on noise grounds the following month. The airport appealed against the Mayor’s decision. The result is this public inquiry.
Lawyers for the Mayor argued in the opening week of the Inquiry that City Airport should compensate more people than it is prepared to do in the event of expansion happening.
HACAN East remains firmly opposed to the expansion.
The Inquiry is expected to last until April 7.
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More information about the Inquiry can be found at
http://lcy-appeal.persona-pi.com/index
Below are HACAN East’s submissions of evidence to the Inquiry.
1. HACAN East’s opening statement
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In the Summary of HACAN East’s evidence, John Stewart says on noise:
Noise
1.1 We support the Mayor’s case that the single mode assessment should be used to delineate the noise contours for London City Airport’s Sound Insulation Scheme (SIS). We don’t want to duplicate evidence so we will leave the Mayor’s team to argue that case in detail.
1.2 The focus of our case will be on the people and communities outside the 57LAeq 16hr contour many of whom experience significant aircraft noise.
1.3 LCY has completed work on assessing the numbers outside that contour and the impact of the noise on those people. They have been generous in sharing that information with us and it is not part of our case that the work has not been undertaken.
1.4 Our case is that, having completed the work and recognized the impacts, there is nothing in their application to deal with those impacts. We will argue that this is contrary to the Government’s Aviation Policy Framework, the Airport Commission’s Final Report and the London Plan.
1.5 First though, it is worth noting that we are not talking about an insignificant numbers of people. LCY has indicated that, if expansion is given the go-ahead, in 2020 76,150 people will be within the 57LAeq contour. (There would 69,500 without the development, compared to 25,000 in 2014). We recognize that much of this growth is to do with new housing in the area but the stark fact is these numbers mean that by 2020 London City Airport could impact more people than any other airport in the UK except at Heathrow and Manchester.
1.6 The numbers impacted outside the 57 decibel contour will of course be even higher. And – our central point – these people are being neglected.
……. (and it continues) ….
HACAN East also says:
1.16 I now turn to the critical London Plan. I will spend a bit more time on this as you have indicated that this will be central to your thinking.
1.17 The London Plan is clear about the importance of noise when aviation decisions are made.
1.18 Section 6.6C: “the aviation industry should…..take full account of environmental impacts when making decisions on patterns of aircraft operation”.
1.19 Section 6.6D: “Development proposals affecting airport operations or patterns of air traffic (particularly those involving increases in the number of aircraft movements) should: give a high priority to sustainability and take full account of environmental impacts (particularly noise and air quality).”
1.20 Section 7.15B: “Development proposals should seek to manage noise by: a) avoiding significant adverse noise impacts on health and quality of life as a result of new development; b) mitigating and minimising the existing and potential adverse impacts of noise on, from, within, as a result of, or in the vicinity of new development without placing unreasonable restrictions on development or adding unduly to the costs and administrative burdens on existing businesses; f) having particular regard to the impact of aviation noise on noise sensitive development;
1.21 It concludes in 7.52 of the supporting text: “The management of noise is about encouraging the right acoustic environment in the right place at the right time – to promote good health and a good quality of life within the wider context of achieving sustainable development. It is important that noise management is considered as early as possible in the planning process, and as an integral part of development proposals. In certain circumstances it can also mean preventing unacceptable adverse effects from occurring.”
1.22 We argue LCY’s proposals are contrary to the London Plan because they did not “take full account of environmental impacts” (6.6C); nor did they “take full account of environmental impacts (particularly noise and air quality) (6.6D); nor did they seek to mitigate and minimise “the existing and potential adverse impacts of noise on, from, within, as a result of, or in the vicinity of new development.” (7.15B). A key reason for these failures is the failure of their plans to produce measures to deal with the impact on communities outside the 57 LAeq contour. We conclude, therefore that LCY’s plans are contrary to the London Plan.
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See also:
London City Airport appeal on expansion starts 15th March – blog by Alan on why Hacan East are fighting for the local communities
Newham Council granted planning approval in February for London City Airport’s plans for expansion, allowing an increase in the number of flights from 70,000 per year to 111,000 and almost double the number of passengers, up to 6 million a year by 2023. In March 2015 Boris Johnson refused the plans, on noise grounds. The airport appealed, and the hearing starts on 15th March. Alan Haughton, from the local campaign group Hacan East will be speaking at the appeal, against the airport’s plans, representing the interests of the local community. Alan has worked for many years, to oppose the high handed manner in which the airport (owned till very recently by GIP, as a means to make quick, huge, profit) rides roughshod over the interests of local people. In a blog, Alan explains why he and Hacan East have worked so hard, unpaid, to give their community a voice. Alan says: “What we see happening at London City Airport is happening across London. Developers and businesses, working closely with Local Councils, are forcing their will on Communities for profit. … We attend the Planning Enquiry with no QC, no legal representation, no ‘experts’. We can’t afford those. … For me though, it’s about justice, about community, about local residents and community groups standing together to defend our local environment.”
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