ISSUE: Night Flights                       

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Putney's new MP attacks Governmemt plans to loosen controls on night flights

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Speaking in Parliament yesterday at the second reading of the Civil Aviation Bill the MP called on ministers to provide evidence of the claimed economic benefits from the 16 flights which started arriving at Heathrow every morning from 4.30am.

"This Bill proposes a fundamental change in the way in which aircraft noise from planes landing at airports such as Heathrow, will be managed. At present, in the case of night flights - and by that I mean those flights landing at airports such as Heathrow between 11.30pm and 6.30am - noise is controlled in two ways, first by a noise quota system which measures the estimated total noise created, and second by the absolute number of movements overhead."

"......this Civil Aviation Bill proposes to take away one of the two controls over aircraft noise currently in place.
Clause Two of the Bill gives the Secretary of State power to change the current night noise regime and to remove the movements limit element of it all together, relying instead on just the noise quota measure."

She backed Wandsworth Council which, she said, had 'campaigned tirelessly for a reduction in night noise (and had) repeatedly asked for definition of excessive noise' and called for new studies on the impact of noise on sleep disturbance.

The MP was challenging Clause Two of the Bill which gives the Secretary of State power to remove the current cap limiting the number of early morning arrivals.

Click here for the full text of Justine Greening's speech

 

June 28, 2005

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