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26 Wanstead Village Directory<br />
Meet and… Greet?<br />
On 3 <strong>October</strong>, Wanstead residents will get the chance to quiz<br />
London City Airport representatives about their expansion proposals.<br />
John Stewart of campaign group HACAN East reports<br />
London City Airport has extended<br />
the consultation on its expansion<br />
proposals in its draft Master Plan to<br />
18 <strong>October</strong>. The airport wants to almost<br />
double flight numbers from today’s levels,<br />
end the 24-hour weekend break and bring<br />
in more planes in the early morning and<br />
late evening.<br />
The proposals have proved highly<br />
controversial. The Mayor of Newham called<br />
the draft Master Plan “fundamentally flawed”.<br />
Other local authorities have come out against<br />
the proposals and local residents from<br />
many parts of London have been sending in<br />
objections. Climate change activists have also<br />
raised big concerns.<br />
London City Airport does seem to have<br />
miscalculated just how much opposition<br />
its proposals would generate. When the<br />
consultation ends, it will look at the responses<br />
and publish a final Master Plan towards the<br />
end of this year. If it does decide to take any<br />
of the proposals forward, the airport will need<br />
to draw up a detailed planning application to<br />
Newham Council, the planning authority for<br />
the airport. It will be required to consult on its<br />
proposals before submitting the application.<br />
It means the earliest any application is likely to<br />
be considered will be the middle of next year.<br />
London City Airport has also been asked<br />
to look again at its flight paths. It narrowed<br />
and concentrated all its flight paths in 2016,<br />
resulting in a five-fold increase in complaints<br />
to the airport. Parts of Wanstead are directly<br />
under these flight paths. The flight paths will<br />
be reconsidered whether or not expansion<br />
takes place. It is part of wider airspace changes<br />
taking place at all airports in London and the<br />
South East as air traffic controllers move to a<br />
satellite system to guide planes.<br />
London City Airport expects to consult on<br />
options for altered flight paths in 2021. Almost<br />
certainly, one of the options it will put forward<br />
will be for flight paths to be rotated during<br />
the day to give communities a break from<br />
the noise. This would tie in with Heathrow’s<br />
commitment when it introduces its new flight<br />
paths to give all communities a break from<br />
the noise each day. These flight path changes<br />
bring some hope for people in Wanstead but<br />
they are unlikely to be introduced until about<br />
2024. The reason for the delay is that changing<br />
flight paths at all airports in London and the<br />
South East is a complex task as the airspace is<br />
among the busiest in the world.<br />
In the immediate term, though, the concern<br />
is London City’s proposals for expansion. You<br />
can find more details about these, plus some<br />
handy hints on making a response, on our<br />
website.<br />
For more information on HACAN East and<br />
the consultation, visit hacaneast.org.uk<br />
A public meeting to be attended by<br />
airport representatives will take place at<br />
Wanstead Library on 3 <strong>October</strong> from 7pm.<br />
© James Petts<br />
To advertise, call 020 8819 6645 or visit wnstd.com
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