Colden Common Parish Council

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Background Information

The current Noise Preferred Routings (NPRs) were agreed with Eastleigh and Southampton Councils in 1994 when the airport had 400,000 passengers a year. Southampton Airport is currently handling 1.4 million passengers annually, the bulk of this increase occurring over the last two years. It's expansion plans are to nearly double these passenger figures to 2.5 million annually.

Whilst, this is good news for the local economy and provides more convenient and cheaper travel for local residents, there have been an increasing number of complaints from residents subjected to greater flight frequency, divergences and noise. This is due 40% of take-offs and 60% of landings flying over Colden Common. The large percentage of landings is mostly due to the European flights arriving from the South, these have increased substantially over recent years and will continue to do so.

In an effort to arrive at more suitable routings, Southampton Airport's response was to set up trials between May and October of this year, during which period the routes were altered for the first half then reinstated onto the original agreed flightpaths. Members of CC-SAMS have been invited to the Stakeholder's Conference and will feedback the results of these trials at the Village meeting.

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SOUTHAMPTON AIRPORT MONITORING SUB-COMMITTEE The Parish Council has taken steps to set up a "Southampton Airport Monitoring Sub-Committee". The terms of reference of the sub-committee provide for it to receive, consider and co-ordinate any views and concerns of members of the village community on all relevant aspects of operations at Southampton International Airport. The purpose of the sub-committee is to make appropriate representations to the management of Southampton International Airport, to the Southampton International Airport Consultative Committee and to any other relevant body concerned with all aspects of operations at the airport, on behalf of the village community of Colden Common. The sub-committee intends to report to the village community, through the Parish Council, on any matters related to operations at the airport which it considers to be within the wider public interest. Current members of the sub-committee are:- Cllr Jo Anstey (01962 713477), Cllr Paul Bryant (01962 714229), Cllr Richard Izard (01962 712167) with Cllr Kay Davies (01962 715054) as deputy, representing the Parish Council. Mrs Carry Nancollis (01962 712380), Mr Pieter Lette (01962 713683) and Mr Paul Gunter, as community representatives to whom any comments or concerns can be addressed, for consideration by the sub-committee

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COLDEN COMMON PARISH COUNCIL
(Southampton Airport Monitoring Sub-Committee)

NOTES ON THE VILLAGE MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 1 DECEMBER 2004
AT 8.00 P.M. IN THE COMMUNITY CENTRE, ST VIGOR WAY, COLDEN COMMON

Cllr K Davies in the Chair

In attendance: Mr W Reed (Clerk to the Council)
Mrs C Nancollis
Mr P Gunter
Mr P Lette
Mr R Heath (Base Captain - Flybe)
Twenty-eight members of the public

PURPOSE OF THE MEETING:

The meeting had been convened to consider matters related to flight operations at Southampton International Airport and had been arranged under the auspices of the Southampton Airport Monitoring Sub-Committee.

The meeting comprised four presentations followed by comment and questions from members of the public.

PRESENTATIONS:

a) Mrs C Nancollis

Mrs Nancollis presented facts and figures on flight operations at the airport which included the following:-

Mrs Nancollis summarised developments and other matters which had led to the calling of the village meeting including an address by Mark Gibb (Southampton Airport) at the Annual Parish Meeting 2003, the publication of a flyer/questionnaire, various meetings with Mark Oaten MP and Mr D Cumming (MD - Southampton Airport), the need for increased representation on the Airport Consultative Committee, aircraft routing trials and the setting up of the Southampton Airport Monitoring Sub-Committee by the Parish Council.

Concluding her presentation, Mrs Nancollis advised those present that the Airport authorities were listening to the concerns of Colden Common residents and presented a sequence of slides from Southampton Airport as used at the recent Community and Stakeholder Conference.

b) Mr R Heath

Mr Heath (Base Captain - Flybe) introduced himself and gave a brief historical background to the development of Southampton Airport. He reminded those present that, whilst the Flying Controls Agreement was still in force, local communities such as Colden Common had grown considerably since its introduction.

Concluding his presentation, Mr Heath outlined the recent Noise Preferred Routing Trials and made brief comment on issues related to aircraft turning procedures and divergence of flight paths.

c) Mr P Gunter

Mr Gunter presented information on noise analysis issues including the positioning of six noise monitors, analysis of noise monitoring data and difficulties arising from monitoring equipment being unable to recognise different sounds. Results of the monitoring trials showed that there were minimal differences of 3 decibels which were unlikely to be discernable by the human ear.

Concluding his presentation, Mr Gunter reminded those present that there was a disproportionate response to public consultations from areas to the north of the airport, compared with those to the south.

d) Mr P Lette

Mr Lette made concluding comments and pointed out that the meeting was intended to provide an overview of what was happening within Colden Common to address concerns arising from aircraft operations at Southampton Airport. He considered that the community should remain optimistic over the potential for beneficial changes through improved representation form the village and the need to secure increased representation through dialogue, including the opportunity now arranged for comment from appropriate bodies at meetings of the Airport Consultative Committee.

COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

a) Mr M Blackstaff considered that much interesting information had been presented and he drew attention to the positive efforts made by Flybe to address problems, expressing the hope that other airlines would also take such steps.

b) Mr G Dudley considered that aircraft routes could legitimately be affected by wind-direction and that a lot of fuss was being made about nothing, adding that he did not believe the village community been given the opportunity to comment that noise was not a problem

c) Mr P Atkins pointed out that the 2-mile marker was where the majority of aircraft turned and that the efforts of Flybe to use the 3-mile point were commendable.

d) Mr D Woods asked whether there were proposals by Flybe to replace 146 aircraft and he was advised that there were no plans for replacement at the present time.

e) Mr C Floyd pointed out that, whilst flights originally followed the course of the River Itchen, they now tended to follow the main roads through the village.

f) Mr Kin Lee referred to the recent routing trials and expressed concern over expansion proposals for the airport.

g) Mr T Clay referred to the considerable number of early morning flights which passed over his property and the need to locate a noise monitor on his land. He was advised to include a request for this on the questionnaire, to be forwarded to the airport authorities for consideration in relation to any future noise monitoring proposals.

h) Mr D Martin referred to flight procedures and the need to see a copy of the technical procedures issued to pilots but was advised that such sensitive information was unlikely to be placed in the public domain for security reasons.

CLOSING COMMENT

In making a closing comment, Mrs Nancollis stressed the need for a broad perspective of all views and reminded those present to complete and return the questionnaire which was available at the meeting.

The meeting closed at 9.50 p.m.

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