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Fight or flight? Airport’s night activity concern at Bournemouth

7:00am Wednesday 16th September 2009 in


WORRIED residents are expected to pack a public meeting in Poole tonight to raise their fears about noisy night flights from Bournemouth Airport.

Some 200 people living under flight paths in Merley, Canford Heath, Broadstone and Bearwood have already signed a petition ahead of the area committee meeting tonight, where they will chance to put their questions direct to representatives from Bournemouth Airport.

Concerns about the potential for more night flights were provoked by the publication of the Bournemouth Airport Draft Noise Action Plan in July.

It revealed that a quota set by Christchurch Borough Council when it granted permission for a £45 million airport expansion allowed noise from flights to increase three-fold without the need for further permission.

Despite the airport’s assurances that night flights would in fact reduce during the 2010 season, residents’ fears were then compounded by the announcement of new routes from the airport next year to Turkey, Corfu, Tunisia and Sharm el Sheikh.

Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Annette Brooke, who will be attending tonight’s meeting at the Broadstone First School, said currently night flights were “only held up by the lack of demand – and that could change overnight”.

She added: “When we talk to people they are absolutely incensed by the potential for increase.”

Broadstone ward councillor Mike Brooke, who will chair the meeting, said it was a chance for people to “air their views”, and he expected a good turnout.

But he said it remained a “sore point” that Christchurch Borough Council had not agreed to send a representative.

The Broadstone, Merley and Bearwood area committee is at Broadstone First School, Tudor Road, from 7pm tonight.

Comments(14)

pd7 says...
7:22am Wed 16 Sep 09

Modern planes are no longer noisy. With Bournemouth and the 1-11 years ago now that was noisy .

What is wrong with the airport is the infa-structure , and the complete lack of decent destinations.

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blogit2 says...
7:27am Wed 16 Sep 09

You think modern planes are quiet try sleeping with them going over more so when theirs low cloud it is very noisy

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GB916 says...
7:29am Wed 16 Sep 09

Im sorry i have no sympathy for the people who live near Bournemouth airport,you bought your houses near the airport and on the flight paths,dont moan about the airport,if you dont like it,simple solution move and stop whinning about it,you moved there,i meen are these people so stupid they dont think,hmm i live on a flight path from a airport or live near it,but im sure there willbe no noise from the aircraft taking off.

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pd7 says...
8:40am Wed 16 Sep 09

GB916 quite correct , the airport has been there since early '40s .

And blogit2 , i do live under a flight path and what goes up from this airport is far noiser than B'mouth . I just ignore them and they fly away.

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cantique says...
8:57am Wed 16 Sep 09

Your report does not indicate what exactly a night flight is, also take-offs are noisier than landings. If it were intended to have a lot of regular flights between midnight and 6am, then I feel that the protesters may have a point. However, outside of these times, they should get on with their lives, preferably moving well out of the area!

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nigel24 says...
9:15am Wed 16 Sep 09

I attended the Kinson Area Forum in which three representative came from BIA.Its a done deal.How can you say it is at the consultative stage when Thomson Holidays are advertising new destinations and nightflights from Bournemouth in 2010.It was also interesting to see their diagram in which they said airliners were quieter and when they displayed the statistic the increase in complaints about aircraft in July were quite embarrasingEven admitting that some complaints were not near the airport.As they said."Airliners glide into Bournemouth and only on final approach do they engage the engine"there fore we understand the problem.They mentioned nothing about economic prosperity and Cllr Stephen McCloughlin made no comment at all and i would of thought in his position he could of supported or defended the airport or residents.Regardless the fault lays within the consultation programme and yet again resident are last to be engage with,when they should of been the initial contact from the onset.

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[Chris] says...
11:07am Wed 16 Sep 09

It is back to basics as already said. Those who live near the airport or under its flight path must have known of this, or soon after moving in. We live under the flight path on some landings and take offs, and we do not hear the noise, moreso if we are concentrating on something else....... Before people complain of more night flights, I suggest they look at the BIA time tables for next year, and they will see that the new proposed flight times departing the airport are before 11pm, and the arrivals, which are much much quieter are during the early hours..... To be honest the only time I hear aircraft is during the day if out side, specially on take off, or the drone of the two propeller aircraft from Channel Express which leave BIA at around 5am each morning...... Why cannot people realise that be able to use ones local airport is far better than travelling miles across country to use others..... the employment it brings to the area etc......Be prepared if the MAG Group who own BIA are successful in buying Gatwick, then there maybe lots more in and out of Bournemouth......I hope the meeting is a failure, and BIA continues to prevail in more use...

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Lewcee says...
11:46am Wed 16 Sep 09

Whilst ANY noise at night is a nuisance, perhaps we should just put up with it - mainly because the aircraft using the Airport at the moment are only of the medium-haul type. Long haul planes need much longer runways for safe take offs fully-laden, and there is no way the runways can be extended to accommodate them. In this way, Bournemouth is only really "European", and not truly "International". In our area, we have more problems with Emergency Vehicle Sirens, and they DO really wake you up when set off, even briefly, just outside our window at one o'clock in the morning...

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[Chris] says...
12:06pm Wed 16 Sep 09

Lewcee wrote:
Whilst ANY noise at night is a nuisance, perhaps we should just put up with it - mainly because the aircraft using the Airport at the moment are only of the medium-haul type. Long haul planes need much longer runways for safe take offs fully-laden, and there is no way the runways can be extended to accommodate them. In this way, Bournemouth is only really "European", and not truly "International". In our area, we have more problems with Emergency Vehicle Sirens, and they DO really wake you up when set off, even briefly, just outside our window at one o'clock in the morning...
Sorry Lewcee; have to beg to differ on this. BIA runway is 2271m long, and if you are not aware has taken Concorde both in landing and take off with a passenger load. One of only a couple of airports outside of London that can do so when she was flying. 747s have been used from BIA under the European Flag for long haul flights to New York and other US destinations. However, its normal aircraft is designed around the 737 - 800 series.

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Skyrah says...
12:48pm Wed 16 Sep 09

We live very close to the flight path and can hear quite a few planes during the day and night. We knew we were close to the airport when we bought our first house in the area 14 years ago and when we moved 6 years ago, we chose to stay in the same area.
The benefits of being able to fly from Bournemouth far outweigh the noise of the aircraft, and with double glazing we hardly notice it. I used to live near Heathrow under the flight path and used to feel the windows vibrate when Concorde flew over. I loved going outside to watch it fly over! A few relatively quite planes are of no consequence for the convenience. Palmair is one of my favourite airlines and the only place they fly from is Bournemouth. Just wish they had a bigger fleet and were able to provide more destinations.
My only criticism is that due to the small scale of the airport, the customer experience is pretty poor quality. The customs area used to operate a lot smoother than in the last 12 months and due to predominantly budget airlines, there is a lot less leeway given in regard to hand luggage. Heathrow/BA have never made an issue of carrying a flight case and a small handbag (in which I carry essential medication), unlike Bournemouth which insisted that my small bag be put in my case! Ridiculous as I was able to take the bag out as soon as I’d passed the customs area!
I hope that the airport will one day be genuinely International and that the service experienced improves with growth. I would love to be able to take all my flights from Bournemouth airport – 10 minuets drive to airport and close enough to make a dash home if anything is forgotten!

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Gordon Cann says...
1:35pm Wed 16 Sep 09

-Heard the one about the doctors wrting in the medical journal the 'Lancet 'today l warning of some of the medical consequences of global warming-quite mad of course


Bunch of trouble makers I call them along with those scientists who drew attention to the role of aircraft emissions in raising the earth's temperature .

As for noise-; I am all for it; teach all those dog owners a lesson; fire works all round if you ask me; and as Voltaire said about God if Guy Fawkes had not been born it would have been necessary to invent him. or something like that.

We own the earth, no more to be said and by the way I am looking forward to the day we can grow bananas in this country; just think of all the jobs that will bring.

Time to wake up !


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Gordon Cann says...
1:39pm Wed 16 Sep 09

Translated -we ignore the general consensus of scientists at our peril

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arayner says...
5:06pm Wed 16 Sep 09

The Bournemouth Airport Draft Noise Action Plan 2009 is a farce.

Their noise detection devices do not pick up anything beyond their limited noise maps, ie they avoid the majority of the densely populated areas of Bournemouth and around. Bournemouth Airport's engagement with the public on this matter has been nothing short of pathetic, only surmounted by the dribble of data (on things like flight frequencies, flight paths and altitudes) that they make available for the public.

How can they get away with this? They are self-regulated, as are most airports. They have some guidelines and they have a barely functioning noise complaints service but it is Bournemouth Airport that is responsible for its own noise management, ie there is no check that those guidelines that do exist are being enforced and there is absolutely no transparency on things like complaints, penalties, etc

Crazy state of affairs and no surprise they have no interest in engaging the public, never mind public servants, in a serious matter which is going to increasingly impact residents' quality of life.

Bournemouth is a veritable paradise but unfortunately it is being sold to the first bidder.

I am not directly in the flight path but I have 100% empathy with those that are.

Where is your solidarity Bournemouth?

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me-- and there was no one left to speak out for me.

It might not impact you now but it will - Bournemouth Airport is the fastest growing airport - be warned!

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Polemicist says...
8:45pm Wed 16 Sep 09

.
Skyrah, Bournemouth said...
12:48pm Wed 16 Sep 09 .
.
"I used to live near Heathrow under the flight path and used to feel the windows vibrate when Concorde flew over. I loved going outside to watch it fly over!"
.
Join the club .. Colnebrook @ 7pm .. even tripple glazing was no use, except 3 layers of glass would rattle !
.
However, it was all over in 3 mins, and it was more fun to walk outside and wave to the pilot before he closed the drivers window !!
.
As Gordon Cann, Bournemouth said
.
"...those scientists who drew attention to the role of aircraft emissions in raising the earth's temperature ."
.
We must remember this is all good news in stopping the next Ice Age..
.
I would sooner have bannanas in my back garden than Polar Bears !

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