Consultation Submission - Department for Transport: Night Flying Restrictions at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted Stage 2
-Greg Hands MP - Member of Parliament for Chelsea & Fulham
General Position
As the MP for Chelsea and Fulham, I welcome the opportunity to respond to this Consultation. As a local MP, I will only make reference to Heathrow. My view remains as it did for the first stage night flights consultation in Spring of 2013: I believe there should be a comprehensive ban on night flights at Heathrow from 11pm to 6am, to be brought in at the earliest opportunity.
Living underneath the Heathrow flight path, I, like many hundreds of thousands of Londoners, am woken up by aircraft noise in the middle of the night on frequent occasions. Indeed, according to the European Commission, 725,000 people live under the Heathrow flight paths alone, that is, 28% of all people impacted by aircraft noise right across Europe. The vast majority of these people have jobs to do and families to look after, for which a sound night’s sleep is highly desirable. Night flights therefore do not only disturb people for the minutes during which the individual planes are flying overhead but the loss of sleep can affect them throughout their daily lives.
The health impacts of sustained sleep deprivation are well documented from well respected organisations including the World Health Authority[1], the Civil Aviation Authority[2], and the British Medical Journal[3], and more compelling evidence is being researched all the time. In its consultation, the Department makes some reference to similar studies, and so is aware of the risks posed to health by night flights through sleep disturbance. I note that in the consultation document, the Department says it ‘does not consider the need to change the balance [it] currently propose[s] to strike between the costs and benefits’. I would urge than the Department remain mindful of the ever increasing testimony of harmful health effects of aircraft noise at night and that sufficient weight is given to these in the Department’s deliberations, now and in the future.
I am aware that one of the key arguments for night flights revolves around the convenience each night of passengers travelling from destinations in the Far East, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, who would otherwise have to board their flights after midnight. Whilst I understand that business between London and the Far East is very important, and many of my constituents derive their living from it, I find it unacceptable that the convenience, sleep quality, and health of millions of London and South East residents under the flight path is sacrificed for the sake of a few thousand inbound passengers. Moreover as flights from these airports regularly take off until 2.30am in Hong Kong and 3.00am in Singapore, it is an established fact that such flights can take off later.
Proposed Regime
The central proposal in this consultation, namely that the Department intends to maintain the current cap on the number of movements and overall noise quota in a regime intended to last three years from October 2014 until October 2017. I share the disappointment of many residents around Heathrow who will be disappointed not to see the noise quota limit tightened. I shall therefore continue to press for a complete ban on night flights at Heathrow.
Airports Commission
The Department has justified the decision to maintain the current regime pending findings of the Airports Commission, firstly with its interim report in December 2013 and final report in 2015. At several points in this Consultation it refers to not to making any significant changes to the current regime before the Commission has completed its work. I acknowledge the decisions about the UK’s future air capacity will have a significant bearing on night flight restrictions, and so I can appreciate the logic of this decision. I would however urge the department to bring forward the consideration of the next regime as soon as possible after the final report of the Commission is published in 2015, in order to make more rapid progress to limiting the impact of night flights on residents of Chelsea and Fulham, in line with the Department’s own Environmental Objectives to “limit and where possible reduce the number of people significantly affected by aircraft noise at night”.
The Airports Commission published its Interim Report in December 2013 which both short-listed schemes for new runways in the South East to consider in more detail, and suggest short-term measures to increase existing capacity at Heathrow. There was one proposal of direct relevance to night flights, namely that of ‘Early Morning Smoothing’, which gives me some cause for alarm[4]. The Airports Commission has suggested that a trial to smooth peak in demand from aircraft arriving after 0600 by allowing more flights in the period 0500 to 0559. Although I recognise this is only trial, I am concerned by the proposals for the ‘smoothing’ of the early morning arrival schedule, which could see additional planes landing at Heathrow before 6.00am.
The Commission argues that this smoothing would reduce disruption to the respite period later in the day, caused by delays during the morning peak to build up and carry-over through the day. The report says “This would therefore provide more certainty for those not expecting to be over-flown as part of their half day respite arrangements”[5]. However, to my mind, to introduce flights landing between 5am and 6am, and therefore more noise when most people are trying to sleep, in order to reduce the noise later in the day is perverse argument and one that would not be welcome by residents. I am therefore against this proposition and urge Government and Heathrow not to proceed with the early morning smoothing trial proposed in the Commissions Interim report, unless benefits of the trial to residents can be demonstrated.
Night-time easterly preference at Heathrow
The Department states that Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) and NATS are carrying out analysis on the feasibility and likely benefits of a night-time easterly preference at Heathrow. I understand this would mean planes operating during the night period would approach from the West, rather than over central London, as they do under the current westerly preference. It seems sensible that operating over the more sparsely populated area to the West of Heathrow, particularly during the night, when sensitive to noise is greatest would provide a reduced number of people exposed to noise. I therefore urge the Department to work with Heathrow Airport to conduct a trial of the night-time easterly preference during the next regime.
Location of New Noise Monitors at Heathrow
The Consultation asks for opinions on the locations of proposed new noise monitors at Heathrow. All of the sites are a significant distance away from my constituency to be directly affected, so I do not have a strong view in this particular case. However I would make the general observation, that whilst measuring noise impact in the vicinity of the airport is important, more monitors placed further towards central London would give an appreciation of the wider reaching effects of arrivals over London, especially at night, not just over the area immediately around the airport.
Greg Hands M.P.
Member of Parliament for Chelsea & Fulham
[1] WHO - Night noise guidelines for Europe – 2009 http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/43316/E92845.pdf
[2]CAA - Aircraft Noise, Sleep Disturbance and Health Effects: A Review - January 2013 http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/ERCD1208.pdf
[3] BMJ - Residential exposure to aircraft noise and hospital admissions for cardiovascular diseases: multi-airport retrospective study – Oct 2013 http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5561
[4] Airports Commission: Interim Report - December 2013 - Page 148 - 150
[5] Airports Commission: Interim Report - December 2013 - Page 148 , Para 5.49