Greenwich 'must take plane noise seriously'

Thursday, 28 January 2010

By Mandy Little

CAMPAIGNERS want a council to “take more seriously” its contribution to a plan to minimise aircraft noise that affects thousands of residents.

Greenwich council’s cabinet agreed its response to the London City Airport Noise Action Plan on January 19 - four days after the original end date for a three-month consultation.

The deadline had been extended by a week, so the submission was just in time.

Residents’ group Fight The Flights (FTF) is worried the council is not doing all it can to protect Thamesmead and Woolwich residents who live just across the river from the airport in Newham.

FTF was disappointed the council voted last year to support a 50 per cent expansion of flights at the airport.

The group argued that 3,000 homes in the borough already stood to be affected and 2,000 more once Tripcock Point in Thamesmead was developed.

Resident Barry Griffin said the council should have taken its response to the draft noise action plan more seriously.

He said: “This is a great opportunity for Greenwich to put residents’ interests first after making such a poor decision to support flight expansion at the airport.

"We’ve already seen a further deterioration in our quality of life in Greenwich.”

FTF has launched a legal challenge to Newham council’s decision to approve the amount of flights from the airport.

In its response to the action plan, Greenwich council said the airport’s plan to replace noisy aircraft with quieter ones once it doubles its flights to 120,000 a year “lacks substance”.

The council said it would like to see a programme and time scale for the change.

It called for noise levels to be monitored in Greenwich and suggested an air quality monitoring station could be set up in Gallions Hill.

The report said: “We believe this opportunity should be pursued and funded by London City Airport.”

Email: mandy.little@slp.co.uk

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1 comments on this news item

Posted by : Gearge At London, Thamesmead | Sunday 31/Jan/2010 | Report this comment

The consultation did close on the 15th of Jan. It was only extended for Greenwich Council as they had not got it in and requested an extension for themselves. It was not extended for everyone. It’s a disgrace that this council did not bother until the last minute to try and help the affected areas in Greenwich. London City Airport should not be allowed to expand

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