Number 1: June-July 2005
Heathrow Facing Increase in Night Noise
The Government is proposing to increase the number of flights at Heathrow between 2330 and 0600 by more than 10% over the next seven years, according to the Department for Transport’s second stage consultation on night flying restrictions at the BAA London airports. The Government believes that this increase is consistent with its pledge to “bear down on aircraft noise at night” as the noise quota limit (each aircraft is rated according to its noise performance and seasonal totals cannot exceed a given limit) will reduce by up to 9% over the same period. However, this will be little consolation to residents living around Heathrow who argue that minimising the frequency of noise events at night is just as important as encouraging the use of quieter aircraft. In a second scenario that extends the night period to 8 hours (2300 to 0700) the proposed increases in movements are even more significant.
Yet, elsewhere, night noise restrictions at Gatwick will become increasingly more stringent: during the summer period, the noise quota will reduce from 9,000 in 2005/6 to 5,900 by 2011/12, while the total number of permitted movements will fall from 11,200 to 10,000. Seasonal reductions for winter are even more dramatic. At Stansted, the movement limits remain unaltered although some marginal reductions in the night noise quota have been proposed.
The consultation, which was delayed to assess the outcome of the legal challenge to the first consultation by the London Boroughs of Richmond and Wandsworth, poses a number of other important questions in addition to seeking comments on the changes to the limits. Of most relevance to residents are whether the night noise regime should be extended from a 6.5 hour night period to an 8-hour night period, and whether to propose a night-noise insulation scheme based on a noise footprint to be defined for each airport.
Members campaigning at non-designated airports might wish to use the consultation to express their views on the lack of any night flying restrictions at their airports.
Responses are due by 16 September 2005 and should be emailed to or sent to DfT, AED 4, Zone 1/34, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR. Copies of the consultation are available from
Tim Johnson
Editorial – Bottom Up, Top Down
I joined the AEF at the beginning of June after working on general environmental policy for Green Alliance. I’m delighted to be focussing now on an issue that links local concerns about air quality, noise habitat loss and over-development with the great global problem facing us all – climate change.
‘Sustainable’ is a much-abused word. But it’s easy to see what’s unsustainable: burning ever more of a fuel that’s running out and concreting more and more countryside just to transport ourselves further, faster, and cheaper.
An ideal government would do one of two things. It could say ‘enough’ to airport expansion: it could listen to aggrieved local residents, accept the mounting body of evidence on the detriment to health caused by noise and pollution, begin to truly value wildlife and realise that local economies need investment that binds communities together; then it would have to conclude that it should not build any more runways. Growth in aviation would slow as capacity was reached. This is the bottom-up approach.
Alternatively, an enlightened government could end the 60-year tax holiday that the aviation industry has enjoyed: it might wake up and wonder why a form of transport enjoyed disproportionately by the rich pays no fuel tax or VAT. As Brendon Sewill demonstrates in Fly Now Grieve Later, if aviation paid its taxes it would grow at about the rate that fuel efficiency improves, thereby stabilising emissions and removing the need for more runways. This is the top-down approach.
In the absence of such a government, the AEF must pursue both approaches. In my first weeks I have been getting to grips with top-down financial instruments, and I look forward to learning more about local campaigns, so that I can help tackle the problem on the ground as well.
Changes to Low Flying Rules
The Government has decided after consultation to change the UK low flying rules (rule 5), bringing them into line with ICAO recommendations.
The existing UK Rule 5 set a minimum linear distance of 500 feet that an aircraft could fly to a person, vessel, vehicle or structure. It also set the minimum height above cities, towns and settlements (“congested areas”) and gatherings of more than 1,000 persons at 1500 feet. The AEF wished to see this height restriction maintained and argued that lowering the height would increase noise levels for those overflown.
The new rule lowers the minimum height from 1500ft to 1000 feet. The rule now states that “Except with the permission in writing from the CAA, an aircraft flying over a congested area of a city, town or settlement shall not fly below a height of 1000 feet above the highest fixed obstacle within a horizontal radius of 600 metres of the aircraft”. The rule is also applied to a gathering of more than 1,000 people and includes helicopters.
The 500 ft rule is virtually unchanged and the exemptions, including aircraft landing and taking off still apply.
If you think that the rule has been breached you can contact:
Head of Aviation Regulation Enforcement
CAA Secretary and Legal Adviser’s Department
CAA House Room K504
45-59 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6TE.
Telephone: 020 7453 6193
Tim Thomas
AEF website gets a makeover, and a mentor
has been re-designed by Ed Wright. Do take a few minutes to have a look – the following sections will be of particular interest…
News
After a period during which very little was added to the site, the news section is now being updated with stories on a regular basis. The three latest stories are shown on the ‘Latest News’ page, but earlier stories can always be found in four archive news subsections (to be found on the left hand side of the ‘latest news’ page). Clicking on the title displays the full article, which may in turn give links to further information, either on the AEF web site itself or on external sites.
Aviation and the Environment
‘Aviation and the Environment’ is
developing into a substantial database of information. It contains reports, briefings and articles of longer-term interest. There are currently sections on climate change, noise, planning, consultative committees, demand and economics, and local air quality.
Developing the sections of ‘Aviation and the Environment’ is a big task and one where we would welcome help from members who have expertise in particular subjects – please contact Nic in the office with any suggestions.
Bulletin Board
Finally, a reminder that members can exchange views and news on the bulletin board. New users can register by following the on-screen instructions.
Nic Ferriday
Sustainable Aviation Strategy – A greener shade of white
A grinning Tony Blair on page two endorses the Sustainable Aviation Strategy, a new industry initiative to manage the environmental impacts of aviation. And well may he smile – the document’s headline commitments are repetitions of assumptions used in the White Paper, re-presented as a ‘green’ initiative: a 50% improvement in fuel efficiency in the best new aircraft by 2020 means that year-on-year improvements will be no better than the 1-2% we’ve been working with all along. What’s worse, with no regulation to encourage the market, there’s no guarantee that these targets will be met.
The strategy calls for aviation’s inclusion in emissions trading, which is welcome, but undermined by articles that have appeared in the press calling for the weakest form of trading: permits to pollute should be allocated for free rather than auctioned and the scheme should cover only flights within the EU – which would capture less than a third of all possible flights.
On noise, the strategy makes much of improvements in technology and air traffic control. But the technological commitments do not go beyond existing international agreements, and while greater use of Continuous Descent Approach will be welcome to residents, what would really make a difference are ‘operational restrictions’ (cutting down on night flights, for instance). These will only be considered when ‘less restrictive solutions are not available’, and following the type of consultation process between airports and residents that has become infamous.
With a third of the funding coming from Government departments, the Sustainable Aviation Strategy looks suspiciously like an attempt to defuse outrage over the White Paper by painting it green. Looked at in the right light, it’s a very delicate shade.
Peter Lockley
news in brief…
Fly Now, Grieve Later
Brendon Sewill has written a follow-up to The Hidden Cost of Flying. This excellent pamphlet explains in forthright language why we are flying headlong into disaster, and puts an unanswerable case for taxing the aviation industry in the same way as any other sector. Download free from the AEF website or order a copy (£3) from the office.
Night Cap
On 27 June in front of the Houses of Parliament HACAN launched a real ale known as Night Cap. The beer markets itself as the only solution to ever-increasing night noise from aircraft, and is a protest against the possible removal of the numbers limit on night flights at designated airports. The BBC showed an interest and several MPs attended, a number of which were later spotted walking back to the Commons clutching bottles of Night Cap.
All-Party Sustainable Aviation Group
On 28 June the All-party Parliamentary Sustainable Aviation Group (APPSAG) was formally re-launched at Portcullis House. In the next newsletter we will publish a list of MPs who really ought to join, and encourage members to encourage them…
Civil Aviation Bill
The Bill is due for its third reading in the Commons on 10 October. AEF tabled a number of amendments at committee stage, aiming to establish independent consultative committees and noise monitoring authorities. These received eloquent exposition from opposition MPs, but were rebutted by the Minister, who woke up her backbenchers to defeat those that were put to a vote.
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Edited by: Peter Lockley
Published by: Aviation Environment Federation, Broken Wharf House, London EC4V 3DT
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