Extra DfT consultation date added for Chelsea & Fulham constituents on draft NPS plans

The DfT originally planned 20 of its consultation information events in areas relatively near, and affected by, Heathrow.  There was outrage that some areas badly impacted by the airport did not get one.  One such area was Chelsea and Fulham. Now its MP, Greg Hands, has persuaded the DfT to add a session for his constituency, which he will chair. This will be at Fulham Library on 19th April from 6.30 – 8pm. This is the day before the final event, at the O2 arena, on 20th April. The arrival route from the east, onto the proposed 3rd runway, would be directly over parts of Chelsea and Fulham, with planes at about 3,000 feet. There could be an aircraft overhead every 90 seconds or less, for large parts of most days (depending on the wind). At that level of noise, it is difficult to hold a conversation outdoors at normal speech volume, when a plane goes overhead.  Greg Hands said he opposes a Heathrow 3rd runway, (though believes the UK needs more airport capacity) and he also wants a ban on night flights- for seven hours – from 11pm to 6am (Heathrow wants flights to start by 5.30am). 
.

 

 

Heathrow third runway: Extra consultation date added for Chelsea and Fulham constituents to view plans

The event take place at Fulham Library after the Department for Transport had originally omitted the information roadshow from the constituency altogether

BY GOOLISTAN COOPER (Get West London)
11 APR 2017

.

An extra date has been added by the Department for Transport to its Heathrow public consultation schedule following intervention from MP Greg Hands.

Mr Hands had been left disappointed when the government omitted his Chelsea and Fulham constituency from its original list of consultation event venues .

Now a date has now been added on April 19 at Fulham Library, in Fulham Road, running from 6.30pm to 8pm.
A series of public consultation events have been held around west London following the government’s Heathrow third runway decision last year.

The Conservative MP was left upset upon learning that none were due to take place in his constituency, in spite of the current and expected future impact that Heathrow Airport might have on residents.

He said: “I know that the announcement on the proposed Heathrow expansion came as a disappointment to many of my constituents in Chelsea and Fulham, as well as to those I campaigned with when I represented Hammersmith as their MP.

“I fully acknowledge the need to increase airport capacity in the South East of England, but I remain opposed to the prospect of a third runway at Heathrow .”

He spoke of his calls for a ban on night flights before adding: “I look forward to hosting this Heathrow consultation event on 19 April, and I should like to thank the Department for agreeing to host an event in Chelsea and Fulham.

“I shall make my own submission to this consultation in due course, and I urge all of my constituents to get their opinions heard , by responding to the Department for Transport.”

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/heathrow-third-runway-extra-consultation-12877159

.

.


See earlier:

Greg Hands (MP for Chelsea & Fulham) urges DfT to ban Heathrow night flights from 11pm to 6am

Chelsea and Fulham MP (Cons) Greg Hands has urged DfT ministers to impose a ban on all night flights at Heathrow. Greg renewed calls for all planes to be grounded between 11pm and 6am, a period of 7 hours, and says he is frequently woken up at night by noise from aircraft passing over west London.  In a letter to Lord Ahmed, the parliamentary under secretary of state for transport, Mr Hands argued that there should be a “comprehensive” ban on night flights at Heathrow. He said the lives of local people are being unfairly disrupted by the noise, and research from international health bodies, including the WHO and the BMJ, highlights the damaging impacts of sustained sleep deprivation on people’s wellbeing. “These Londoners have jobs to do and families to look after, for which they require a good night’s sleep.”  A ban of flights for a 7 hour night period would “lessen the detrimental impact on hundreds of thousands of Londoners living beneath the flight path”.  … “I find it unacceptable that the convenience, quality of sleep, and the health of millions of residents in London and the wider South East under the flight path is sacrificed for the sake of a few thousand inbound passengers per night”.

https://www.airportwatch.org.uk/2017/03/greg-hands-mp-for-chelsea-fulham-urges-dft-to-ban-heathrow-night-flights-from-11pm-to-6am/

.

and

.

Greg Hands MP: Why do we fly 1,000 planes a day over London?

Greg Hands, MP for Fulham & Hammersmith, asks why Heathrow is one of the very few cities which have so many planes flying over hundreds of thousands of people, on their way to the country’s largest airports.  There was a recent interview, in the BA in-flight magazine, in which a pilot said:  ‘I always enjoy flying over London, because there are so few approaches over cities’. Greg Hands questions not only the noise implications, but also safety – everyone was recently reminded of the problem when the BA jet with one of its engines in flames was routed directly over London – including Chelsea, Fulham and Hammersmith. Greg says: “Thankfully, it made it back to the airport and nobody was hurt, but it again begs the question: why do we fly more than 1,000 planes a day over London?”

https://www.airportwatch.org.uk/2013/06/greg-hands-heathrow/

 

.

.

.

 

.