Present: Councillors Bicknell (Chairman), Beer, Lenton, Muir and Stretton (sub for Councillor Thompson).

Also Present: Andrew Davies (Wraysbury Parish Council), Peter Hooper (Windsor resident), Jamie Jamieson (WWRA) and Michael Sullivan (WWRA).

Officers: Frances Hewitt, Tanya Leftwich and Philip Turner.


APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Thompson and John Holdstock (WWRA).

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillor Stretton declared a personal interest in all items on the agenda as he was a retired aircraft captain.

MINUTES

The minutes from the 27 May 2010 were approved subject to the following change:

Page ii – the last bullet point to read ‘More information was needed on curved approaches’.

MATTERS ARISING

Members were informed that a response had not yet been received to a letter that had been sent to the Secretary of State on the subject of ‘alternation’.

ITEMS

i. Heathrow Airport Consultative Committee (HACC) Update

Councillor Beer provided a written update on HACC to everyone present.

Members noted that:

Ø BAA had ceased printing and posting agendas and reports which was now the responsibility of the attendees which had caused a lot of bad feeling.
Ø Councillor Beer had been informed that NATS would endeavour to have a five minute flight cessation after the 11^th hour on Armistice Sunday.
Ø A presentation on Tactically Enhanced Arrival Mode (TEAM) had taken place and it had been noted that the previous Government’s commitment to no mixed mode was unaltered.
Ø A presentation on detailed air quality data from various locations around the airport had been surprisingly inconclusive given that it had been taken over a significant period of time which should have been sufficient to allow decent conclusions to be drawn.
Ø The coalition government had yet to confirm its policy on the abolition of the Cranford Agreement. It was noted that BAA were currently working towards submitting a detailed application for substantial feeder runway works that would take place for six weeks from the 13.09.10 as it was noted that repairs were no longer a viable option.
Ø The new South East Airports Taskforce to reduce flight delays and queues had been launched.
Ø There had been mixed comments on Lord Mawhinney’s report on high speed rail to serve Heathrow.
Ø Opposing views had been expressed about the new coalition government’s decision to cancel Runway 3. Nick Cullen, Heathrow’s new Chief Operating Officer, said he would be challenging the new government to ensure that aviation policy would provide strong trading links to support UK competitiveness.
Ø The cost of the BA cabin crew strike and BAA losses in first quarter of 2010 had been reported. It was noted that industrial warehouses at Heathrow and other sites were being sold and the new T2 had begun at a cost of £2,200million (£2.2 billion). The new 2.1 kilometre baggage tunnel linking all terminals had been completed.
Ø International Airlines Group would be the name of the BA / Iberia merger with 408 planes serving 200 destinations.
Ø Airtrack was mentioned and was still being considered with particular regard to level crossings.
Ø The 5 yearly Heathrow employment review indicated 76,600 airport employees, with RBWM contributing far fewer than the big five staff providers being in 6^th place, with Slough being 5^th. It was noted that the RBWM figure equated to approximately 2,000 staff and all employees were found to be over 40 except within the catering division.

Members noted that the Chairman and Councillor Beer had visited the new Control Tower at Heathrow which they had found to be very beneficial. They had been informed that Heathrow had reduced their carbon emissions by 100,000 tonnes which equated to only a 10% reduction in the total figure.

In the ensuing discussion the following comment was made:

Ø It was requested that the question be asked as to why BAA had to submit a detailed planning application for the new taxi ways.

ii. Strategic Aviation Special Interest Group (SASIG) Update

This item was deferred until the November meeting.

iii. Local Authority Aircraft Noise Council (LAANC) Update

Councillor Beer provided a written update on LAANC to everyone present.

Councillor Beer explained that the main business at the meeting had centred upon pressing the Director to prepare a paper to be circulated to MP’s and new Councillors informing them of the main issues and tensions of the complex operations and procedures relating to Heathrow.

Members noted that doubts had been expressed about the Government’s Policy on the Cranford Agreement as nothing had been reported in the aviation policy statements. It was requested that 2M be contacted to get the useful elements of the ANASE attitudes to noise study officially adopted which the Surrey County Council representative had agreed to follow up.

iv. 2M Update

Members were informed that there was nothing new to report beyond the information that had been distributed in the press releases.

The Team Leader for the Environmental Protection Team, Philip Turner agreed to provide an update to Members at the November meeting.

v. South East Airports Task Force; First Meeting.

The Forum noted that the South East Airports Task Force had met but that no outcomes were expected until spring 2011. Peter Hooper agreed to provide Members with the terms of reference at the next meeting.

vi. Alternation

The Team Leader for the Environmental Protection Team, Philip Turner informed Members that a response had yet to be received to a letter that had been sent to the Secretary of State in early July on the subject of ‘alternation’. Once received a copy of the response would be distributed to the Forum..

vii. Noise Action Plans Update

Councillor Beer informed the Forum that a number of Stakeholder Events on the Noise Action Plan would be held in the autumn.

viii. Descent Rates

Members of the Forum considered the relevant aspects of the paper which concluded that steeper angles were feasible. It was noted that whilst it was felt that the aircraft would be able to cope with a steeper approach, the noise generated due to the increased power requirement would be much greater. There would, therefore, be disbenefits rather than any hoped-for benefits. Members were also concerned about the potential safety aspects to curved approaches.

ix. Rail Links, Arup Hub, 2M High Speed Rail

Peter Hooper informed Members that the rail links to Heathrow were currently under review. Members noted the following points:

Ø The Piccadilly line was noted to run twelve trains per hour and it was understood that the signalling system would be upgraded in 2017/2018.
Ø The Heathrow Express ran four trains per hour but did not service Terminal 4.
Ø Crossrail was due to replace the Heathrow Select Service. It was noted that Crossrail would not run a fast service but would stop at all stations on the line. Four trains would run from Canary Wharf to Paddington and four trains would stop at Heathrow.
Ø Great Western Rail Electrification was currently on hold but it was believed that this would still go ahead.
Ø Airtrack – this was dependent on the spending review and may or may not go ahead.

Peter Hooper was invited to develop a paper detailing the current arrangements available to the Forum and email it to all Members so that it could be included as an agenda item at the next meeting.

x. Update on the ‘Future of UK Aviation’

Mr Sullivan requested that feedback on his paper be emailed to him at michael.g.sullivan@btinternet.com, especially if Members disagreed with any of his statements included in the report or had any additional views to add.

With regard to incorporating surface pollution at Heathrow into his report Mr Sullivan requested input from the Team Leader for the Environmental Protection Team, Philip Turner.

It was agreed that the paper should be included in a future agenda and be fully discussed when significant developments occurred.

xi. Press Relations

The Senior Corporate Communications Officer informed Members that the next two editions of the (quarterly) ‘Around the Royal Borough’ would include the promotion of the existing excellent bus links to Heathrow, and the associated travel information on the Borough website. The newsletters would also reinforce what the Aviation Forum stood for and what it was working towards and would focus on diversification via the rail network.

It was suggested that the Cranford schedule also be included in a future edition of ‘Around the Royal Borough’.

xii. Item Suggestions for Future Forum Meetings

Members were reminded to submit requests for potential agenda items by email to the Chairman, the Head of Public Protection & Sustainability and the Clerk of the Forum.

DATES OF FUTURE FORUM MEETINGS

Dates of future Forums were:

23^rd November 2010
8^th February 2011

It was requested that the proposed date in early May 2011 be moved to late May.lk

MEETING

The meeting, which opened at 9.30am, ended at 12.10pm.