London City Airport - Are You Living In A Noise Hell, Whoops, Contour?

These are the latest noise contours released by London City Airport. We are unable to confirm whether these contours are based only on ACTUAL recorded data by the airport rather than estimated cobbled up figures from technical aircraft books (as they had 8 years where they failed to reliably and consistently collect actual noise data).

The maps still don't reflect what the communities ACTUALLY experience in terms of noise levels as they are based on averages - and they count the quiet times aswell as the actual noise events - but this is what the airport claims to use to identify properties that are eligible for noise mitigation. The problem is that many of those that are eligible have either not received any mitigation at all, or they have received double glazing, which they alledge is 'inferior' and 'ineffective'.

This feeling would reflect the comment from a Newham Council officer that London City Airport does not provide the same standard of noise mitigation that other airports do. This is why London City Airport choose to say they mitigate at 57db, 3db earlier than other airports.

What they haven't said is that they might mitigate 3dbs earlier but that what they install is not to the same standard as other airports and in the past residents have been asked to sign a disclaimer to future noise mitigation work upon receiving the windows/air ventiliation systems. The letter to residents who had received noise mitigation bascially asked them to sign to confirm that they had received the installation and also that they would not make any further claims on the airport for noise mitigation works. If they signed they gave up their right to any further noise mitigation in the future. Trebles all round for London CityAirport on that tactic (I'm sure that has saved them a fortune at the expense of residents growing misery at increasing noise levels), fortunately some residents refused to sign the letter.

REMEMBER: If your home was built or given planning permission after June 1998 it is highly unlikely that you will be entitled to any noise mitigation, even if you are in the 60db contour.

We strongly advise any residents receiving noise mitigation from London City Airport not to sign any such similar paperwork, without first seeking legal advice. If you don't know who to go to for legal advice please contact us and we will try to assist in providing information. If you would like a copy of the current Noise contours please email us.

How Would LCA Flight Expansion Affect You?

If permission is granted for the additional flights 40, 384 flights over 260 weekdays, the airport will be allowed to operate an additional 155 flights per day. (quote from John Austin, MP)

THINK:

• An ADDITIONAL 155 flights per day TOTALLING TO AN ESTIMATED 447 FLIGHTS PER DAY.


• 447 NOISE EVENTS EVERY DAY measuring 80dbs and above for over 60,000 residents in the noise contours


• 100,000's MORE RESIDENTS affected by noise disturbance below 80dbs, COVERING 5-6 BOROUGHS.


• This means a flight would have to TAKE OFF CONSISTENTLY EVERY 2 MINUTES AND 14 SECONDS OVER A 16 HOUR OPERATING DAY to achieve the annual flight capacity that LB Newham have approved.


• In reality flights take off in batches, with 90 seconds in between each flight. Newham approved LCA in 2007 (WITHOUT CONSULTING THE COMMUNITIES) to put as many flights out in any one day as they wish (but adhering to their current annual limits), THIS MEANS THAT ON THE BUSIEST DAYS RESIDENTS WILL EXPERIENCE A FLIGHT EVERY 90 SECONDS FROM 07:00 to 22:00.

Why not let them know how you feel about this - DEMAND a public inquiry.

Greenwich and Lewisham Public Meeting

Wednesday 23^rd April

7.30 pm

Recital Room, Blackheath Halls

23 Lee Rd, SE3 9RQ

Speaker: John Stewart, Chair HACAN

What the Government’s proposals could mean for South East London:

All flights will land over South East London if Heathrow Expansion plans go ahead

Introduction of ‘Mixed-Mode’ at Heathrow: 730 flights a day

Third Runway: 950 flights a day

‘Mixed-Mode and a Third Runway 1100 flights a day

The maps produced by the Department during its recent consultation on Heathrow expansion show that all aircraft landing over London will join their final landing path as far east as Woolwich and Bexley and then fly in two parallel paths to Heathrow.

The northern flight path: Greenwich – Peckham – Camberwell – Vauxhall

The southern flight path: Blackheath – Deptford – Dulwich – Stockwell/Brixton

________________________________________________________________________

Residents in south east London must not forget that these flights are in addition to the current flights at London City Airport - and their dream of having 176,000 flights per year - which all adds up to making South East London a very noisy and polluted place to live in. If you have not already entered your postcode on the NATs website to see how the proposed new flight paths will affect you please do - some residents were shocked to find themselves under 12 flight paths in the area they live in within south east London!

For some, 'sweet dreams' will be a thing of the past.

FTF

Do you know what's coming to a sky above you?

In this months edition of the Bexley Chronicle , page 8, residents in south east London and Bexley are alerted to how the skies above them are going to get considerably busier as a result of London City Airport, Heathrow, Biggin Hill and any changes made by National Air Traffic Systems with regard to changing flight paths.

Are you aware of how the changes will affect you where you live? We'd recommend and remind you to take part in the consultation exercise that NATS is running until the end of May.

Once again we unfortunately see yet another council, Bromley, operating with blinkers on in regard to how flights and the associated noise from the airport (Biggin Hill as mentioned in the Chronicle) will affect communities. Just because there is a borough border does not mean that the noise suddenly stops at that line and hence their responsibility to consult.

We'd be pleased to see residents in the neighbouring boroughs to Bromley pursue the council over their obligation to consult with ALL those affected. It's about time airports and councils played fairly and increasingly they will find themselves being legally challenged to do so.

Fight the Flights Hits BBC Radio London 94.9 Airwaves

FTF were invited to speak on the morning breakfast show presented by Joanne Good and Paul Ross this morning, and have since featured on the regular news bulletins since. The focus was; Fight the Flights, London City Airports application to increase flights to 120,000, the lack of consultation, the impact of pollution upon residents across the boroughs, and how LB Newham have cancelled the hearing of the application, originally planned for tomorrow, and that no further date has yet been issued.

Campaign organiser Neil Pearce described the experiences of residents living in the residential areas nearest to the airport: West Silvertown, the Royal Docks and North Woolwich and how each area is subjected to incredibly high levels of aircraft noise and how any increase is unsustainable for the communities affected.

He also raised the Mayor of London's vision of creating a 'city in the East' - and how this would clearly not be possible if expansion goes ahead as the area would be made mostly uninhabitable by deafening levels of noise and pollution. He went on to document the consultation farce carried out by LB Newham - indicating the multiple deadlines that have been given for objections to the application - but which have been consistently replaced by another in response to complaints received regarding residents NOT being consulted.

If you missed the programme, you can listen again by clicking here.

Noise Pollution from London City Airport - Courtesy of NATS

Residents have been fobbed off for so long with inaccurate noise measurements from LCA's often failing noise equipment (especially that at the east end of the runway). Unfortunately the noise measurements that LCA have used in their application to expand, despite it being estimates, would have all been taken from the periods when noise measurement was unreliable - and also which did not reflect the huge growth in the use of the noisiest jets.

So no surprise there - LCA burying the negative and only presenting the positive! All with a bit of 'go easy on them' from Newham Council who clearly have had little influence on the efficiency of LCA noise measuring processes as so well documented in the LCACC minutes of the past.

National Air Traffic Systems have released 2 documents on London City Airport in regard to the noise levels and contours that each plane type inflicts upon us - dependent upon which direction it takes off and lands in.

We think that most residents around the airport would find the noise maps and the levels indicated rather eye opening - but clearly they indicate the type of levels that our resident campaigners have recorded on their noise monitors as seen in our earlier post.

So 80db - 90db upwards is going to be standard with the frequency of the noisiest jet increasing, and British Airways big interest in services from LCA such as their transatlantic boeing service....and that's just for those properties deemed to fall into the contours.

If your property was built after 1990 - don't expect any help to reduce noise levels inside your home because it isn't going to happen!! London City Airport will NOT provide any help at all with noise reduction - only mechanized ventilation. So YOU, the residents, are left high and dry living with the daily 80-90db for hour upon hour of the day. *

We're sure they'll be even more casualities outside of those contours - but who will listen to them?

Nobody of course.

* The following paragraph was taken from LCACC Part IV Noise Insulation Programme:

It should be noted - see Noise Page - that where the listed homes (or noise sensitive community buildings) were built or given planning permission after 30 July 1990 they will not be eligible for noise insulation if this was required to be installed by statute or as a condition of planning permission. The premises may, however, be eligible for mechanical ventilation. This is likely to apply to many dwellings in West Silvertown.

One (well rather more) Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Residents have been reporting back to us for some time the high amount of planes that have aborted landings at London City Airport.

Residents notice these as the sound of a jet at low level less than a mile from the end of the runway firing back up into a climb at a steep angle is incredibly noisy over residential areas. They also worry that these events of firing off mean that more of those harmful emissions to humans are spurted over their homes.

We are also wondering if when there are aborted landings whether these count as one noise factored movement or two- even though the plane has to re-circle and attempt to land for the second time?? So in effect, residents experience such events as two movements. But the murky world of aviation statistic manipulation is bound to count it as one we suspect!

We don't have aborted landing figures from Heathrow but we suspect that the amount of landings aborted at LCA are relatively much higher due to the nature of the landings required and the exposed position to adverse weather conditions - another reason to suspect their ability to manage any more flights than they already have.

What we've got to look forward to???

In December the New Scientist reported that 'noise kills in much the same way as stress does'.

Noise pollution reaches new levels in Cairo.... according to the weekends news: It causes "an accumulation of stress hormones, inflammation and changes in body chemistry that eventually lead to problems such as impaired blood circulation and heart attacks."

Pictured above - Brittania Village, West Silvertown - a large residential development which, if approval goes ahead, will suffer from increased noise levels.

An environmental health specialist said: "Noise severely affects pregnant women who are permanently exposed to it. It causes retraction in blood vessels and they give birth to small babies," she added.

Pictured below newly/being built flats which will be subjected to an estimated ear blasting 79db upon flight expansion.


"The cost of this is enormous -- we can count non-concentration at work, absenteeism, accidents, handicaps," she said. "Protecting ourselves from noise is much less expensive than what it may cost later."


According to the World Health Organisation, which considers noise pollution to be the world's third worst after polluted air and water, exposure for more than eight hours a day to sound in excess of 85 db is potentially hazardous.

Fight the Flights knows that LCA have those flattering estimates of noise levels which we know are not the levels which residents are measuring....and they might not be at 85db now...but it won't be long before they reach those levels if expansion goes ahead.

It's about time the actual noise levels were revealed to residents in the area, that is of course when LCA have sorted out the equipment at the east end of the runway so that the results are valid and reliable...will LCA come clean?

At what price comes flight expansion at LCA?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080125/thl-egypt-pollution-health-noise-a0a7e8a_1.html

THIS WEEKEND!! Noise Mapping Workshop

Sat 19th Jan. 12:30 - 15:00,Britannia Village Hall, 65 Evelyn Road,

West Silvertown, E16 1TU

The workshop is open to residents in the areas surrounding London City Airport both East and South East London, whom suffer from considerable aircraft noise.

The workshop will provide people with training on how to use the sound meters, local maps and a pack to help carry out sound recordings.

More people= more readings = more evidence about the noise levels that our communities are exposed to! Please bring along as many people as you can.

Register your interest by contacting:

Louise Francis

Mapping and Development Project Officer,

London 21 Sustainability Network

http://www.london21.org/
Email: louise.francis@london21.org

Telephone: 020 7471 6796 020 7471 6797

NOISE Complaints - Mr Grafton's the name....Rob Grafton

As we are here to help provide information that London City Airport (LCA) and Newham Council only tend to provide to 1/2 kilometre of homes around the airport we thought we would post this rather useful information (this is available on the London City Airport Consultative Committee website http://www.lcacc.org/comment/ - but I couldn't find anything on the LCA site surprisingly enough!).


London City Airport are keen to boast the low level of complaints they have received over the years...but as we all know things have changed as of late with regard to the activities, and noise has grown to irritating levels for many communities - we don't want this to get worse. Of course low levels of complaints - may have something to do with communities not knowing who to complain to, I suspect this is even more so for those that don't have internet access.

But we suspect that some may have been reporting to their local councils and the complaints may not have been passed on (from our information it seems that many councils are not even aware of who to contact and the procedure), or perhaps some are even being fobbed off at an early stage.

So we ask you to please drop Mr Grafton, who is LCA's Environment and Planning Manager a line or two....and copy in Robin Whitehouse, Newham Council's Environmental Officer.


They both deal with complaints about LCA planes or environmental issues - whether the aircraft be on the ground, or flying over your home...no matter which borough you are in:


RobGrafton@londoncityairport.com cc Robin.Whitehouse@newham.gov.uk

or you can write to Mr Grafton at:

London City Airport
Royal Docks
London
E16 2PX

Telephone: 020 7646 0200, Fax: 020 7473 9588

and Mr Whitehouse at:

London Borough of Newham

Alice Billings House

2-12 West Ham Lane

London

E15 4SF

Telephone: 020 8534 4545, Extn 25771, Fax: 020 8557 8869