NIGHT FLIGHTS CONSULTATION
To discuss the current Department for Transport consultation on night flights
Minutes:
Daniel Bayles, Community Protection Lead, introduced the item and explained his background and expertise on noise acoustics. He explained that aircraft were generally getting more efficient and quieter. Prior to the Covid19 pandemic airlines had been replacing older and noisier four-engine aircraft with quieter two-engine ones, and the pandemic has accelerated the retirement of the less efficient aircraft. Daniel Bayles explained that British Airways had retired its last Boeing 747-400 in the last year, which he believed was significant as BA was the airline that was the biggest operator of these aircraft. He stated his belief this was one of the reasons why the consultation was being run.
The Forum was told there had been a reduction in the number of aircraft using Heathrow, and those that were flying were quieter. This had improved the noise environment for residents of the Royal Borough. On the other hand however, aircraft noise was excluded from nuisance action, meaning the Council could not take any action against aircraft noise like it could do for a noisy party or car alarm.
The Forum was told that the consultation regarding the proposal to maintain the existing night flight restrictions for the designated airports of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted from 2022 to 2024 – which incorporated the Council’s proposal to ban QC4 rated aircraft movements during the night – was currently active and was due to end on March 3rd. A second consultation that sought early views and evidence on policy options for the government’s future night flight policy at the designated airports beyond 2024 was also running, with an end date of May 31st. A further consultation regarding the addition of a landing stack to Luton Airport arrivals had closed; Daniel Bayles explained a new stack at Luton would have an impact on Heathrow, with potential night-time landings even though these were theoretically banned. The Forum was told there was no consistent agreement on what constituted night time flying. The World Health Organisation stated it should either be an eight-hour period between 23:00 and 07:00 – which was the typical UK standard – or 22:00 and 06:00. However at Heathrow it was between 23:30 and 06:00, a period of just six and a half hours. Daniel Bayles explained it was therefore not possible to compare all sound levels reported from Heathrow with the WHO standard due to the different criteria used.
Daniel Bayles told the Forum that Boeing were coming to the end of building new 747 planes, and more had been seen coming into Heathrow via other airlines. He explained these aircraft came under Quote Count 4, before giving examples of other aircraft that were classified under other QC bands. The bands were 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2 and 4, with exemptions given to the quietest aircraft. Daniel Bayles also showed on a diagram the differences in noise dispersion comparing QC1 and QC4 aircraft, with his diagram showing a QC4 plane would negatively impact a wider area of the Royal Borough.
Daniel Bayles explained about the noise exposure levels recommended by the World Health Organisation, and how the various levels of noise impacted on people’s sleep. A previous consultation showed that exposure levels over the Royal Borough, in areas such as Horton, were much higher than those recommended by the World Health Organisation. However there were differences in the way noise figures were recorded so it was difficult to draw direct comparisons. Daniel Bayles noted that the Council’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment had not identified aircraft noise, and noise associated with Heathrow, to be an issue when it was produced in 2019. He stated his belief this would weaken the Council’s position at any future consultation, as it could be pointed out that the Royal Borough had not raised any concerns about noise pollution previously. However concerns over air pollution, and the associated public health issues, had been noted in the JSNA. Daniel Bayles stated his belief that the JSNA should be updated to record the Council’s concerns over noise levels associated with Heathrow being an issue for the Borough.
In terms of how the Royal Borough and its residents should best respond to the consultations, Daniel Bayles stated the key points to highlight should be that there should be no dispensation for QC4 aircraft to take off at night, and they should only land at night time if it was unavoidable, such as for safety reasons. He added that night time should be defined as being between 23:00 and 07:00, and that sound levels should be reported in accordance with the WHO standards in order to ensure consistency. Daniel Bayles said the Borough was submitting its own response to both consultations and said the key arguments could be circulated to residents if they wished to make their own submissions, as this would strengthen the overall response in the same way it had done with the response to the third runway consultation. Discussions would take place between officers on how best to disseminate this information to the public.
It was noted that although older aircraft were being phased out for passenger flights, they were still being used on freight services. This had been more noticeable during the Covid pandemic, as fewer passenger services were using Heathrow. Cllr Knowles said that aircraft would generally be retired from passenger service after 25 years, but could then be stripped out and used for freight for another 15 years.
Cllr Hilton stated his belief that in terms of aircraft noise, the overall number of flights landing was important to highlight as the peak number of aircraft caused the most disruption to residents rather than the average rate. The number of landing night flights could be avoided through small shifts in timetables. Cllr Hilton agreed that the public health concerns relating to aircraft noise ought to be highlighted.
Andrew Hill asked if the matter of delta and background noise levels should be raised in responses. Daniel Bayles agreed, but suggested it would be more compatible with the consultation relating to future planning of night flights.
Robert Buick told the Forum he had being trying in vain to be sent data from the Survey of Noise Attitudes conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority, which related to daytime noise levels. He had been requesting the data since January 2017 but had been unsuccessful, even after submitting Freedom of Information requests. He stated his belief the current consultations could not go ahead without this information. He said the Department for Transport had advised him that the data would not be ready for the first consultation but would for the second. Robert Buick stated his belief that the DfT should be lobbied to publish this information in time for the second night flights consultation.
The Chairman told the Forum that there were no noise monitors over central Windsor, whereas there had been some previously.
Peter Willan, chairman of the Richmond Heathrow Campaign, said the group had been carrying out research on noise levels for the past 15 years and it was available to view on their website. He said members had expressed concern at the ‘shoulder periods’ at the start and end of the night time period and asked if this could be raised in the Royal Borough’s responses to the consultations.
Members of the Forum thanked Daniel Bayles for his informative and well put together presentation. It was agreed that discussions would take place between the Chairman and appropriate officers to amend the JSNA document to include concerns relating to aircraft noise and how this would impact on the Royal Borough.