Runway Closures - Noisier Nights until October for Many Thousands

Residents living under the landing path for Heathrow's northern runway won't get any night-time peace between March and October, as the resurfacing works are carried out on the southern runway.  All alternation will stop between 10.30pm and 6am, so those 16 flights coming in from 4.30 am will be overhead every day, every week until the autumn - there's a useful explanation on BrentfordTW8.com.

These next months will be a useful taster for what life would be like without that essential alternation pattern, practiced at the airport for decades and essential for making life bearable for the hundreds of thousands of residents living so close to the airport - in communities that were there long before the airport was even thought of (1944). 

Of course for those living under the approach to the southern runway, there'll be peaceful nights until the autumn, but no doubt Heathrow will need to resurface the northern runway next year!

Hounslow Council has been campaigning for years for decent mitigation for residents living near Heathrow.  Our lobbying ensured that the Civil Aviation Act of 2006 retained alternation and the restricted night flights regime, and the Government ensured additional bedroom noise insulation for thousands of homes.  With the current debate about the future airport capacity in the south-east, we continue to fight for the right to periods of peace and a quiet nights sleep for the noisiest communities in the UK.

Hounslow politicians unite for a fairer Heathrow Airport

Today a cross-party delegation of MP (Mary Macleod), myself and Cllr Barbara Reid (Tory lead on Heathrow issues) went to the Transport Department, where we discussed the way forward for an improved climate around Heathrow Airport with the Aviation Minister, Theresa Villiers.  It was the first time we have formally met the her since the Coalition government announced that Runway 3 would not be built and runway alternation maintained.  We've had no doubts as to the pressure she will be under from the aviation industry to revert to the previous Government's policies, so  it was therefore gratifying that she was not only willing to listen, but to offer us hope that she took the needs of residents in Hounslow seriously - sadly (for me) the first Aviation Minister I have met, who is prepared to do this.

We discussed the impact of night flights, asked for  an expanded noise insulation scheme for local people and also proposed a number of measures to improve conditions for the local community including; more protection for schools from noise, a total ban on night flights, maintaining runway alternation schemes to reduce persistent noise, and improvements to getting to and from the airport using more sustainable modes of transport. We have also asked that noise insulation schemes for homes and community buildings are not only more generous than the present schemes, but also more accountable to local people and easier to access.

It was pleasing to hear that the Minister has promised to consider carrying out a full health impact assessment of the effects of planes on local residents. We know for definite that sleep deprivation affects health but we need to know what the costs are to our residents who live in one of the noisiest places in the UK.   

We all felt that she demonstrated that the Government is keen to develop a better night flights’ regime,  and she showed her commitment to understanding fully the impact on all those involved, including local residents, schools and businesses as well as the aviation industry itself.

Watch this space for further developments . . .