LONDON CITY CONSULTATION HAS CLOSED
What happens next?
22/9/22
The airport will assess the respoinses and before the end of the year will make public the findings. It has not yet said when it will put in a formal application to Newham Council. If and when it does, the Council, the Planning Authority for the airport, will hold a formal public consultation before its Planning Committee takes a decision on the application.
HACAN EAST RESPONSE TO LONDON CITY’S CONSULTATION
1/9/22
Closing date for responses is 9th September.
The consultation form is poor. If you do not wish to fill it in you can email London City directly, as we have done, with your comments: londoncityairport@cratus.co.uk If you do want to use the consultation form, scroll down to The Consultation Document for some handy hints on the pitfalls to avoid.
Feel free to use material in our respoinse when responding.
Our response: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56507de4e4b018da2a5ce870/t/63109fc66dc0e724dd54b80c/1662033873418/London+City+Consultation+September+2022+HACAN+East+Response.pdf
NEW REPORT CHALLENGES LONDON CITY CLAIMS ABOUT ITS NEW ‘QUIETER’ PLANES
29/8/22
“Double the planes will mean double the disturbance, whatever planes London City Airport’s airlines decide to fly.”
A new report by the campaign group HACAN East challenges claims by London City Airport that the new generation of aircraft, the centrepiece of its expansion proposals currently out for consultation, will be quieter for communities.
London City has admitted that the new aircraft will only be significantly quieter for departures, and then only close to the airport runway but argues that other London communities can expect the new generation aircraft to be 2-3 decibels quieter than old generation aircraft.
The HACAN East report, which took measurements in South East London, found there was a 1.1 average decibel difference between new generation and old generation planes. This difference would not be noticeable to the human ear.
LONDON CITY LAUNCHES 10 WEEK CONSULTATION INTO growth PROPOSALS
1/7/22
London City Airport today launched a 10 week consultation into growth proposals. The Residents face the prospect of more planes at weekends and in the early morning and late evenings . See below HACAN East briefing on the plans, plus an aid to responding to the consultation.
The airport will be seeking permission to:
· Increase passenger numbers from 6.5 million to 9 million a year
· Get rid of the ban on flights on Saturday afternoon and evening
· Operate more flights during the first hour of operation after 6.30am and in the late evening
The annual cap on the number of flights permitted will remain at 111,000. Earlier proposals to raise it to 151,000 have been dropped. The 8 hour night plan will also remain in place.
There is likely to be anger amongst communities at the plans to operate more flights at weekends and in the early morning and late evening. Since London City opened residents have had a break from the noise between 12.30pm Saturday and 12.30pm Sunday. There will be anger that the only break now will be for a few hours on Sunday morning.
The airport will stipulate that only the cleaner, quieter planes can fly during the additional hours of operation. It hopes this will act as an incentive for these planes to be used at all times by the airline. These planes are only noticeably quieter on when taking off over communities close to the airport. but the airport hopes their widespread use will reduce will reduice the overall noise footprint. These planes are larger. This is why the airport can propose increasing the number of passengers using it each year without also seeking to lift the annual cap on flight numbers.
The consultation will start on 1st July and run until 9th September. London City will be holding a number of exhibitions. Details are on City’s website and below. If, after the consultation, London City wishes to proceed with its proposals, it will need to be subject to a formal consultation by the planning authority, the London Borough of Newham.
The changes to the flight paths to bring more respite to residents which London City is working on is a separate process. It wants to bring in the changes it is consulting on by 2024. Flight path changes are unlikely before 2027.
KEY PROPOSALS ANALYSED
We have analysed London City’s key proposals as they impact on noise, climate, air pollution and surface transport in this short briefing:
Below is a briefing we have produced on the consultation
LONDON CITY GROWTH PROPOSALS
On July 1st London City published it proposals for growth. They are out for consultation until September 9th. If, following the consultation, London City decide to proceed with them, there will need to be a formal consultation by the London Borough of Newham, the planning authority. London City aims to have its new plans in place by 2024.
The details of the plans, plus details of the consultation and of the exhibitions, can be found on the airport’s website at https://consultation.londoncityairport.com/
In summary, these are the key proposals:
an increase in annual passenger limit from 6.5 million to 9 million;
getting rid of the current curfew on flights (12.30pm Saturday – 12.30pm Sunday) to allow flying on a Saturday afternoon and evening - there will be no change to the current operating hours on Sunday, with no flights before 12.30 pm;
An increase in the number of flights permitted between 06:30 and 06:59, from 6 to 12
‘more flexibility’ for delayed departures and arrivals in the last half hour of operations each day (10pm – 10.30pm) – they are currently limited to 400 per year;
only the cleaner, quieter planes will be allowed during the additional hours of operation – London City believes this will act as an incentive for airlines to renew their fleet so these aircraft become the norm at all times. These planes are larger which allows London City to seek to increase annual passenger numbers but not the total number of flights.
What is not changing:
The 8 hour night ban will remain (10.30pm – 6.30am)
The current annual cap of 111,000 flights will remain – London City seems to have dropped, certainly for now, the proposal in its Masterplan to seek to increase it to 151,000.
No increase at parking at the airport.
COMMENT ON THE PROPOSALS
End of Weekend Respite
The proposal to permit flights after 12.30pm on Saturdays ends the valued weekend break from the flights and the noise which has existed since the airport opened more than 30 years ago. It was brought in because so many people live so close to the airport. City has given no indication of the number of aircraft there will be during this additional 9.5 hour period. Will it be 5 an hour? Could it be up to 45 an hour?
More Early morning and Late Evening Flights
These are the times when people tend to be most sensitive to the noise from the flights.
‘Quieter’ Planes
These planes will be noticeably quieter but only on departure and only within about 4 miles from the airport. The difference is negligible elsewhere.
No Link with Flight Path Changes
London City is currently revising its flights paths. It will be a long process. Consultation not expected until late 2023/early 2024, with the new flight paths not in place until 2027. The timescale for the growth proposals is shorter. But no link has been made between the growth proposals and the flight path changes.
Consultation Exhibitions Poorly Advertised
The details are on London’s City’s website but, so far, there is no indication of a widespread publicity campaign. And no exhibitions are planned for some key overflown boroughs such as Havering, Southwark and Lambeth.
The Consultation Response Form is Poor
It seeks to collect views on many things not directly connected to this consultation while not asking some key questions about its proposals, such as whether you back Saturday afternoon and evening flying. If you do not wish to fill it in you can email London City directly with your comments: londoncityairport@cratus.co.uk
SEE BLOW OUR GUIDE TO FILLING IN THE CONSULTATION DOCUMENT
Some more general facts and figures
London City was opened in the late 1980s, primarily as a business airport to serve Dockland and the City of London. It was never envisaged that it would become a significant leisure airport. Yet the drive behind these growth proposals is to attract more leisure passengers. It impacts more people than any other airport in the UK, except Heathrow and Manchester. By 2025 London City forecasts it will be over 200,000. People are disturbed from Havering and Bexley in the east to Lambeth in the west. London City aircraft fly over some of the most densely-populated and poorest areas in the UK. Many people have no option but to remain under the flight path.
THE CONSULTATION DOCUMENT
Here are the details of the London City consultation, up on its website:
https://consultation.londoncityairport.com/
HACAN East has analysed London City Airport’s Consultation Feedback Questions which are live from 1 July to 9 September as accessed at the link below
https://consultation.londoncityairport.com/feedback/
We have identified several issues with the questions as outlined below along with a guide on what you can do about this.
Consultation Exhibitions
The details of the official consultation events are on the airport’s website.
Here are the key Public Exhibition Events
Newham: Tuesday 12th July, 3:30 – 7:30pm, Britannia Village Hall, 65 Evelyn Road, E16 1TU
Tower Hamlets: Wednesday 13th July, 3:30 – 7:30pm, Bernie Cameron Community Centre, 32 Merchant Street, Bow, E3 4LX
Lewisham: Thursday 14th July, 10am – 2pm, St Mary’s Centre, 37 Ladywell Road, SE13 7UT
City of London: Thursday 14th July, 3:30 – 7:30pm, Dutch Church, 7 Austin Friars, EC2N 2HA
Redbridge: Monday 18th July, 3:30 – 7:30pm, Redbridge Central Library, Clements Road, Ilford, IG1 1EA
Greenwich: Tuesday 19th July, 3:30 – 7:30pm, Clockhouse Community Centre, London, SE18 5QL
Waltham Forest: Friday 22nd July, 3:30 – 7:30pm, Priory Court Community Centre, 11 Priory Court, E17 5NB
LONDON CITY AIMS FOR AIRPORT TO BE NET ZERO BY 2030…BUT AIRCRAFT PRESENT MORE OF A PROBLEM
20/5/22
London City grabbed the headlines by committing to go net zero carbon by 2030 (excl flights). Its full sustainability report, though, admits: "Our largest contributor to our total carbon footprint are aircraft emissions & represent the greatest overall challenge." It is working with Government and other bodies to find ways to reduce those. It is also aiming that by 2030 80% of passengers using the airport will ariive/leave using ‘sustainable’ modes of transport. https://assets.ctfassets.net/jaqm1ntr8b50/4TlLIGR9Y4CjucGkKD8uxD/760828f98af7f721704445f0ab82fb93/London_City_Airport_Sustainability_Roadmap.pdf
IMPORTANT NEW REPORT ON THE BEST WAY TO REDESIGN FLIGHT PATHS
5/5/22
London City is redesigning its flight paths (see story below - Consultation on flight paths expected 2023 or 2024). A report Heathrow commissioned jointly with its Community Noise Forum about best practice in introducing the new type of flight path called Performance Based Navigaion (PBN) routes. It is by consultants Taylor Airey who have done a very good job. They interviewed residents and community groups and have come up with a range of suggestions on community engagement, respite and much more. They also draw on examples (good and bad) from airports in Europe, America and Australia. And they include case studies including on page 47 a critical section on how London City introduced its controversial concentrated routes in 2016. There are signs that London Caity has learnt lessons from that debacle.
The report is in the form of slides and is quite easy to read.
https://www.uecna.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/D-020-016-015_PBN-benchmarking_Final-Report-v4.pdf
LONDON CITY EXPECTS RISE IN FLIGHT NUMBERS THIS SUIMMER
11/3/22
London City CEO, Robert Sinclair, told its Consultative Committee on 10th March. that the airport is expecting a fairly significant update in traffic this summer.
Due to Covid the number of flights was low over the last two years.
In period October – December 2021 there were 7,486 flights.
This compares to 1,550 for the same period in 2020.
Pre-Covid, there were around 20,000 flights.
CONSULTATION ON NEW FLIGHT PATHS EXPECTED 2023 OR 2024
11/3/22
London City expects to consult on its plans for new flight paths in 2023 or 2024. Although it will begin work on its proposals later this year, the consultation on them is likely to be delayed until 2024 as all airports in London and the South East are being required to coordinate their consultation on the new flight paths.
A bit of background
London City, along with all UK airports, will be changing its flight paths. This is happening because air traffic controllers are moving from using a ground-based system to a satellite system to guide aircraft. It will mean narrow, concentrated flight paths known as Performance-Based Navigation (PBN).
London City had already introduced PBN routes in February 2016 when it concentrated all its flight paths, leading to a 5-fold increase in complaints. It is required now to look again at these routes in order to co-ordinate its flight paths with those of other airports in London and the SE, and particularly with Heathrow and Biggin Hill.
Earlier this year London City consulted key stakeholder groups on some creative concepts to replace the currently unpopular routes. These included the provision of respite so that most communities could get a break from the noise.
Feedback
An outline of stakeholder’s views was given to the Consultative Committee.
Stakeholders favoured:
The sharing of routes to provide respite
Planes to be kept higher for longer
A reduction in fuel and climate emissions
A separation of routes so that, wherever possible, the same area was not overflown by planes from different airports
Collaboration with other airports.
