Mr M Scott, Bagby Airfield, Bagby, Thirsk, North - Hambleton District ...

248. The ability to predict the ground conditions would also increase the
attractiveness of Bagby Airfield as a place to host training and the fly-in social
events that have been organised by the Flying Club based at Bagby Airfield. All
these activities would be liable to increase the number of flights and inherently
cause greater disturbance to the population.
249. The parking of high value and older less valuable aircraft undercover would
be achieved by the provision of additional hangar space and may make outside
storage an unnecessary feature of the airfield. With the additional hangar
facilities the trend towards lower numbers of aircraft being stored on the airfield
may be reverse. It is known that aircraft are owned by syndicates as well as by
individuals, accordingly increasing the number of aircraft based at the airfield can
result in increased numbers of flights and activity at the airfield beyond that which
would be expected from a single pilot. Increasing the number of aircraft can
therefore lead to a marked increase in the number of flights.
250. The increased facilities of the club house would also increase the attraction
of Bagby Airfield as a place for the keeping of aircraft and the operation of airfield
based businesses.
251. The enhancements of facilities for helicopters are of particular concern to
local residents due to the particular disturbance that they cause. The provision of
a space for the refuelling of helicopters away from other activities at the airfield
enables an increase in the use of the airfield as a refuelling point for helicopters
that are in transit. There is little opportunity for the airfield management to
sanction such aircraft from arriving or departing by routes that do not comply with
the noise abatement procedures. A non technical assessment of helicopter
movements suggests that they are perhaps at least 4 times more disturbing than
fixed wing movements. Only the take-off of a fixed wing aircraft is likely to give
rise to significant amounts of unavoidable noise, whereas all four aspects of
helicopter movement (approach, landing, take-off, departure) generate significant
amounts of noise that are to some extent unavoidable. In addition the rotor noise
from a helicopter is a particularly intrusive type of noise that has been reported by
residents to disturb sleep and interfere with the normal daily activities in the
homes of Bagby residents. Noise that is sufficiently loud to disturb sleep
patterns, wake a sleeping person, prevent sleep in an evening and disrupt daily
Hambleton District Council - Tim Wood – Proof of Evidence - 56 -