HACAN Launches Major Report on Aircraft Noise and Health

A major new report published today has found that the health of over one million people in the UK is at risk from aircraft noise.   The report, Aircraft Noise and Public Health: The Evidence is Loud and Clear, commissioned by campaign group HACAN and produced by the Aviation Environment Federation, has called on the Government to undertake a complete review of all its polices to ensure that they take full account of the health impacts of aircraft noise.

Here is the report: Aircraft Noise and Public Health the evidence is loud and clear final reportONLINE

And here is the summary: AEF_aircraft noise and health_FINAL3

Key findings:

  • People exposed to high levels of aircraft noise around Heathrow have a 24% higher chance of stroke, 21% higher chance of heart disease, and 14% higher chance of cardiovascular diseases compared to people exposed to low levels of aircraft noise
  • Over 460 schools around Heathrow are exposed to aircraft noise levels that may impair learning and memory
  • In the UK close to 600,000 people are exposed to night-time aircraft noise levels far above WHO recommendations

HACAN chair John Stewart said, “These findings are shocking but not surprising.  Aircraft noise is having a major impact on people’s health.  HACAN is calling on the Government to postpone any decision on new runways until a full health assessment has been carried out on each proposal.  Today HACAN is setting up the Heathrow Health Alliance to monitor progress.”

Launch: Tuesday 12th January, 2 – 3pm, Committee Room 19, House of Commons; Hosted by Tania Mathias MP; Key Speakers:Tim Johnson, Director of AEF, Professor Stephen Stansfeld, Professor of Psychiatry, Queen Mary University of London

ENDS

 

Campaigners  ‘plant’ 2000 black paper planes outside Parliament

On January 5th, the day Parliament returns, campaigners against a third runway at Heathrow ‘planted’ 2000 black paper planes in Victoria Gardens in Westminster at 10am to highlight the fact that 2016 will be a grim year for residents if a new runway is given the go-ahead.   The campaigners expect around 2000 flights at day will use the airport if it gets a third runway, up from 1350 a day at present.

HACAN black planes

(photo by Phil Weedon)

HACAN was joined by people from groups in Chiswick and Ealing as well as Stop Heathrow Expansion, which represents people in the Heathrow Villages whose homes are under threat, Friends of the Earth and residents west of Heathrow (1).

HACAN Chair John Stewart said, “2016 is likely to be the year when the Government makes a decision about a new runway.  It will be a grim year for Heathrow residents if the Government decides to go for a third runway at Heathrow.  Our New Year’s message to the Prime Minister is we will fight to the bitter end to stop a third runway happening.”

Just before Christmas the Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced that a decision about a new runway, expected in December, would be deferred for at least another six months.

The Department for Transport is still looking at the options for a third runway at Heathrow, a second runway at Gatwick and the plan put forward by Heathrow Hub to double the length of the existing northern runway at Heathrow.

(1). The organisations represented were HACAN, SHE (Stop Heathrow Expansion), CHATR (Chiswick against Third Runway), ENAG (Ealing Noise Action Group), Friends of the Earth as well as residents living west of the airport.

Campaigners post pre-Xmas thank-you letters to PM for refusing to give green light to 3rd runway….so far

Press Release

 18/12/15 for immediate use

 Anti-3rd Runway Campaigners post pre-Xmas thank-you letters to PM

 

Post box 2

Over the past week hundreds of people campaigning against Heathrow expansion wrote pre-Christmas letters to David Cameron thanking him for keeping his promise not to build a third runway and urging him not to break it next year when a decision on runway capacity is expected to be announced.  This morning three representatives of the campaigners posted letters through a post box in the heart of Westminster.

Last week the Government announced that it would postpone a decision on new runways until at least the middle of 2016.  It made clear that Heathrow and Gatwick were still in the frame.

In 2009 David Cameron, then leader of the opposition, pledged in a speech in Richmond, “No ifs, no buts; there will be no third runway at Heathrow.”

John Stewart, chair of HACAN, one of the groups opposed to expansion, said, “These letters are yet another indication of how strongly people feel about a third runway.  We urge David Cameron to keep his promise in 2016.”

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Way beyond west london

I’ve written about this before, but it is worth saying it again.  Heathrow is not just a West London problem. Or just a Windsor problem.  Its impact is felt over 25 miles from the airport.  Kate Hoey, the Vauxhall MP, emphasized it again in the House of Commons this week ((14/12/15) during questions to the Transport Secretary when she SAID:

The Secretary of State is a very honourable gentleman, particularly as he is my constituent. I am sure that deep down he is not particularly happy today. In his statement, he talked about the best possible outcome for local residents. Does he accept that my Vauxhall constituents may not be considered as local residents to Heathrow, but that it is crucial that their views are taken into consideration? 

This video, commissioned by HACAN, illustrates the impact of aircraft noise on Vauxhall, about 17 miles from Heathrow: https://youtu.be/rXf8o_khz8s 

A study HACAN commissioned from the independent noise consultants Bureau Veritas in 2008 found that in Kennington Park, close to the Oval Cricket Ground “aircraft noise dominated the local environment.”  In a separate study found that during certain periods of the day over 40 planes an hour fly over the Oval.

It is important to stress the extent of the noise problem to counter the accusation heard again in recent days following the Government’s decision to postpone a decision on expansion that it is a handful of ‘West London Nimbys’ who are damaging the national interest by holding up a third runway.

An email sent to HACAN in August.  From Hounslow, Windsor or even Vauxhall?  Try Walthamstow, deep in North East London.  

Of course, it is not true that everybody in Walthamstow is disturbed by the noise.  Just as there are people in Hounslow, Windsor and Vauxhall who are not bothered by it.

But my point is that there are people from the airport seriously impacted by it. A lot of them.  HACAN gets more emails from South East London than from any other area.

Most of these people are not captured by the noise statistics.  They live outside the official noise contours, even the more realistic ones used by the European Commission.  Their opinions are not sought in the (in)famous Populus polls commissioned by Heathrow which claim to show just over 50% support for a new runway in the boroughs closest to the airport.

What they are looking for is respite: a predicable break from the noise.  It is the constant refrain in email after email, week after week which HACAN receives.  Heathrow Airport has now recognized the problem and has commissioned research to look at practical ways of introducing respite.  It is a considerable piece of work which won’t report until the end of 2016.  But the sooner 

The Secretary of State is a very honourable gentleman, particularly as he is my constituent. I am sure that deep down he is not particularly happy today. In his statement, he talked about the best possible outcome for local residents. Does he accept that my Vauxhall constituents may not be considered as local residents to Heathrow, but that it is crucial that their views are taken into consideration? They live under early morning noise pollution that is absolutely shocking. An extra runway at Heathrow will make it much worse.

Government postpones decision on new runway for at least 6 months

At 7pm on Friday 11th December the Government announced that it is delaying any final decision on new runways until at least the middle of next year.  It wants to do further work in assessing particularly the environmental impacts of a 3rd runway at Heathrow, the Heathrow Hub proposal for an extended runway and a 2nd runway at Gatwick.

The full Government statement is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-confirms-support-for-airport-expansion-in-the-south-east

HACAN Comment: 

This delay shows once again just how difficult it will be to build a third runway at Heathrow.  The last Labour Government tried and failed.  And now this Government has run into real obstacles.  Heathrow would require almost 1,000 homes to be demolished and part of the M25 to be moved and put in a tunnel.  It would mean a quarter of a million more planes flying over the city with the biggest aircraft noise problem in Europe and could cause air pollution to exceed the EU legal limits.  Many of these problems won’t go away however long the final decision is delayed.  The Government should face up to the reality that a third runway is unlikely ever to see the light of day. Although there are party political reasons for this delay, these should not obscure the fact that the real problem with a third runway is its impact on the area London and its people.

Influential committee of MPs ‘put Government in a straightjacket’ over Heathrow Third Runway

Press Release

1/12/15 for immediate use

Influential committee of MPs ‘put Government in a straightjacket’ over Heathrow Third Runway

A leading committee of MPs has ‘put the Government in a straightjacket’ over a third runway at Heathrow.  The influential Environmental Audit Committee released a report today (1) which said that a third runway should not go ahead at Heathrow until strict environmental conditions are met.  These included proof can be that noise and air pollution will be less than they are now; that the Government has clear policies in place to show it could meet the climate change recommendations in Airports Commission; and that Heathrow Airport commits to paying for the associated road and rail infrastructure and agrees to a ban on night flights.

HACAN chair John Stewart said, “The Committee has put the Government in a straightjacket over a third runway.  This report makes it that much harder to build a third runway at Heathrow.”

The Government is expected to make an announcement before Christmas about whether it favours a third runway at Heathrow or a second runway at Gatwick.

ENDS

 Notes for Editors

 (1).   http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/news-parliament-2015/airports-commission-report-15-16/

 

 

Flash Mob at Heathrow Terminal 2

Press Release

 21/10/15 for immediate use

 No Third Runway Flash Mob Staged at Heathrow Terminal Two

Flash Mob T2 2

Over 50 campaigners from across London and the Home Counties staged at Heathrow Terminal Two today in protest against a third runway.

At 11am on the dot the campaigners, standing in front of the giant sculpture in the new terminal, revealed red t-shirts emblazoned with the words ‘No 3rd Runway’.

The campaigners included residents from Harmondsworth whose homes would be demolished to make way for the new runway as well as people from West London and Berkshire and as far afield as Lightwater and Binfield.  They were joined by polar bears from Plane Stupid.

John Stewart, the chair of HACAN, the campaign group which organized the Flash Mob, said, “This was a fun event with a serious purpose.  We wanted to send a strong message to David Cameron that, if the Government gives the green light to a third runway, he will face united, determined opposition.”

The Government is expected to make an announcement about new runways in December.

ENDS

 

 

Londoners Back Gatwick

Press Release

13/10/15 for immediate use

 Londoners Back Gatwick

A new poll released yesterday revealed Londoners back expansion at Gatwick. The YouGov poll found that Londoners would prefer Gatwick rather than Heathrow to get an extra runway by 44 per cent to 33.  Gatwick was seen as cheaper and less harmful in terms of noise and pollution.

The poll of 1,072 Londoners found that 41 per cent backed Gatwick as the best choice for issues such as noise and air pollution, compared with 24 per cent for Heathrow. Some 38 per cent thought Gatwick would cost less, against 20 for Heathrow.

The poll coincided with the publication of a letter signed by Wandsworth council leader Ravi Govindia, Kingston’s Kevin Davis, Southwark’s Peter John and Croydon’s Tony Newman which urged: “Why waste another decade on a failed Heathrow scheme when there’s an alternative on the table?”

The Government is expected to make an announcement in December whether it favours a second runway At Gatwick or a new runway at Heathrow.

John Stewart, chair of HACAN, the campaign group which opposes expansion at Heathrow, said, “This poll re-enforces the message that a 3rd runway at Heathrow is simply not popular with people in London.  And it sends a clear signal to the Government that it will face formidable opposition if it gives the go-ahead to a new runway.”

ENDS