40,000 residents 'face more aircraft noise' under plans to redraw Heathrow's flightpaths

Forty thousand west London residents could face more aircraft noise under new plans to redraw Heathrow’s flightpaths, according to Hounslow Council.

The latest proposals, which could be introduced even if the Government drops its plans to expand the airport, will mean more misery for residents living under the flightpath of the southern runway, council officials have warned.

NATS, the body which provides the UK’s air traffic control services, is currently undertaking the biggest ever consultation on airspace change.

Residents who could be affected by the changes are being urged to respond to the consultation before the end of May.

Under the new proposals, NATS is planning to redraw the aircraft route map across southern and eastern England and has proposed changing the route of planes taking off over London so that they fly over more homes in the south of the borough.

This means that an estimated 40,000 people already affected by noise from planes landing over London will experience more noise, more of the time.

Councillor Barbara Reid, the council’s lead member for aviation, said: “Most local people are fully aware of proposals to expand Heathrow and many have given their support to the council’s Say NO campaign.

“However, these new proposals to redraw the flightpaths have gone largely unnoticed.

“We will be responding to the NATS consultation on behalf of local residents but it’s also crucial that anyone concerned about more aircraft noise contacts NATS directly.”

In a separate but related move, 20 council leaders, including the Leader of Hounslow Council, Councillor Peter Thompson, called for the final decision on airspace changes to be made by the transport secretary instead of the Civil Aviation Authority. 

The leaders all belong to the 2M Group, which represents a combined a population of more than four million people, and were responding to the NATS proposals for airspace changes relating to Terminal Control North. 

The first phase of the consultation primarily concerns Luton and Stansted with arrangements for Heathrow flights to follow.

The councils say they are concerned about the lack of any public meetings to explain the significance of the proposals to the communities affected.

In a letter to Ruth Kelly, the leaders say: "There has been very little attempt to make the public aware of the consultation. These may be technical matters but the issues are ones on which any citizen has a right to express a view.

"The Government has a duty to ensure that people in those communities are aware of what is being proposed.

"It seems to us that change of such significance to people's quality of life should be considered by Parliament. The final decision must be taken by yourself as Secretary of State and not delegated to the CAA.

"As a group we will obviously await publication of the Heathrow airspace proposals before submitting a detailed response. But the principles of effective public consultation and involvement and parliamentary scrutiny must apply throughout the entire process."

The transport secretary is expected to rule on proposals for a third Heathrow runway and increased use of existing runways in the summer.

The current NATS consultation on airspace changes in the Terminal Control North area, which includes Heathrow, ends on May 22. A second consultation relating specifically to an expanded Heathrow is expected later this year.

2M is an all-party alliance of local authorities concerned at the environmental impact of Heathrow expansion on their communities. The group, which took its name from the two million residents of the original 12 authorities, now represents a combined population of four million people.

The full membership comprises the London Boroughs of Brent, Camden, Ealing, Greenwich, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Sutton, Southwark and Wandsworth, the boroughs of Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead and South Bucks District Council.