A meeting has been arranged on Thursday 8th May 2008 at 7.30p.m. (Kirtling Village Hall has been booked provisionally). As you may know, the consultation period ends on 22nd May 2008 so it is important that councils act fast. If your council would like to attend, please confirm the number of people who will be present as the capacity of the hall is limited to 175 people.
The National Air Traffic Service
(NATS) is redesigning the flight
paths for Luton, Stansted and
London City airports and if approved
by the CAA the proposals will be
implemented in spring 2009. You
may be alarmed to find out the
aircraft bound for Stansted could be
circling over your homes from then.
As the news spreads, many people
are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of the proposals.
In Cambridgeshire, a number of villages have joined together to fight the proposals and have set
up a website www.ruralpeace.org.uk. The website highlights a number of points:
NATs have admitted themselves that the noise impact will be greater for a rural community
where there is less background noise.
They have admitted that they cannot measure the effect on tranquillity, nor can they assess
the visual impact.
They also concede that the proposed changes "have been assessed as not having a
demonstrable effect on fuel burn and emissions either positively or negatively"
We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.
Joanne Ince – Clerk to Lidgate & Ousden PC's (ousdenparishcouncil@yahoo.co.uk)
Our Parish Clerk has the following 'official information'
This amounts to
- leaflets outlining the proposed changes (about 50 leaflets in total)
- a DVD which explains the changes in more detail and a copy of the consultation document.
The consultation period lasts to 22nd May. All these documents can be found on their website - www.nats.co.uk/TCNconsultation.
• You may find a great deal of information concerning increased air pollution and noise at:
http://www.stopstanstedexpansion.com/air_quality_representations_2008.html
• This is a useful link to find out information about aircraft routes for Stansted
http://www.consultation.nats.co.uk/map/25/aircraft_routes.html?address=CB88YH
and
and
MESSAGE FROM RURAL PEACE ...
We have looked at the map for the other 'recipients' of new stacks, and can see that your village is either within or very near to the proposed new hold for Stansted (ours is for Luton).
Part of the problem has been that many people living in the affected area remain unaware of the process altogether. As the consultation ends in May, we have launched a campaign to inform as many residents as possible about the impact these plans could bring.
It is acknowledged by all, even NATS themselves, that the impact of such airtraffic circling over quiet rural areas will be greater as there is no background noise to absorb it. This is only one of several major concerns we have about the introduction of this new airtraffic.
There are some disturbing reports that residents subject to similar consultation processes in the past feel that the impact of the aircraft was minimised, and that the reality of the stacks is a source of great annoyance and loss of tranquility.
We are not sure if there is a campaign to oppose the new stack in your part of Cambs/Suffolk, but we would very much like to link up with other residents who do wish to oppose the plans or who may wish to find out more about it.
Please forward this email to anyone who may be interested. Our group has set up a website so that people can access information which is not just reliant on NATS - who of course have an interest in the success of these proposals.
The website is www.ruralpeace.org.uk and we have also set up an E-Petition at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ruralpeace
We hope that you will help us to spread the word so that at the very least, everyone living in or near the selected area has an opportunity to take part in the consultation process.