Introduction My Name Is Geoff Bagnall. I Am Vice-Chairman Of
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Introduction My name is Geoff Bagnall. I am Vice-Chairman of Takeley Parish Council and I am speaking on its behalf. I have lived in Takeley for many years and I am an Uttlesford District Councillor for Takeley, the Canfields and Broxted. Takeley lies immediately to the south of the airport and any increased development there has a direct impact on the 3000 or so Takeley residents. We have lived with this commercial airport on our boundary since the early 1950s and have watched it grow since then to the massive airport that it is today. The consequence of this huge growth has impacted on Takeley in many ways, a significant number of them being detrimental to our way of life here. Our main concerns as immediate neighbours to the airport are focussed on a number of aspects, which include Air Quality, Air and Ground Noise, Climate Change and Environmental Impacts, Surface Access and Lack of Infrastructure. The throughput of Stansted Airport in 2019 was around 28 million passengers per annum. On current predictions it will take a long time to get back to what they were before Covid-19 let alone to 35mppa. Given the current Covid-19 pandemic and the considerable wealth of knowledge about climate change, particularly in the context of the aviation industry we believe that this application is premature and not justified.. Turning to the aspects that concern Takeley residents: Air Quality Comprehensive research shows that despite anticipated efficiency innovations to aircraft and flight operations there is no end in sight to the rapid growth in CO2 emissions from air travel. In addition to CO2, aircraft emit heat, noise, other gases and particulates which have a direct effect on climate change as well as the lives of our local residents. Apart from the CO2 released by aircraft, the aviation industry contributes significant greenhouse gas emissions from airport ground vehicles of passengers and staff accessing Stansted Airport. The UK aviation CO2 emissions grew by nearly 16% between 2010 and 2018, (and by 124% since 1990). They also reached a new record high in 2019. The Committee on Climate Change has projected that by 2050 the UK aviation industry will be responsible for nearly 35% of this country’s residual CO2 emissions. Air and Ground Noise MAG’s evidence on noise impacts understates the adverse effects that aircraft operations have on the local communities. The noise assessment metrics are solely based on average noise levels which are not sufficiently sensitive to the frequency of aircraft movements and take no account of background nose. It is recognised by DFT that it is not sufficient to rely solely on average noise metrics. But MAG has used the 57 decibel noise contour averaged over 16 hours as the threshold for measuring significant community annoyance, when the DFT now recognises that significant community annoyance previously observed around 57 decibels is now observed from the lower level of 54 decibels. Furthermore, in October 2018, the World Health Organisation published revised noise guidelines which lowered its previously recommended thresholds for aircraft noise by 10 decibels, equivalent to a halving of loudness and this has not been taken into account. MAG has also not taken into account the adverse effect that aircraft movements on the ground have upon villages such as Takeley around the airport. MAG measurements are only taken for LAeq average noise levels which are at higher threshold levels for noise annoyance than defined by the World Health Organisation. MAG has failed to take proper account of variations in weather and wind conditions and do not provide maximum noise level LAmax measurements or take account of the frequency of aircraft movements. Night noise is a particular problem for local residents and Stansted has more night flights than Heathrow (which is due to phase out all night flights as part of any new planning permission). Large cargo planes constitute a not insignificant proportion of night flights and even in Covid-19 time there seems to be more freight leaving in the middle of the night. Because of the rural nature of the airport in the countryside with low ambient background noise levels, sleep disturbance from aircraft noise is noticed more by Takeley residents. It is interesting to note that in dismissing an appeal in 2018 to build 7 new homes at Burton End on the west side of the airport, the Planning Inspector in reaching his judgement said: “I conclude that the proposal would not provide acceptable living conditions for future occupants, with regard to noise and disturbance of aircraft which would be contrary to policy ENV10 of the Local Plan in that occupants would experience significant noise disturbance from aircraft. I conclude that the proposal would give rise to significant adverse impacts on the quality of life for future occupants as referenced in the Noise Policy Statement for England”. These proposed new dwellings would have been built in close proximity to the airport boundary. Climate Change We contend that the world is at a critical point given the apparent speeding up of “global warming” as well as the impact of the global pandemic through Covid-19. These two aspects are pivotal in considering their effects on air travel over the next few years but particularly for Stansted Airport. This is not the time to agree to any additional development at Stansted Airport particularly any increase in passenger throughput to 43 million passengers per annum. Uttlesford District Council has a commitment to achieve zero carbon status by 2030. This was based on the IPCC report that stated that current commitments under the Paris Agreement for emissions reductions by 2030 were insufficient to limit warming to 1.5degrees centigrade. The report went on to say that global emissions need to be reduced well below current levels by 2030. Impact of Covid-19 It has been estimated that across the world passenger numbers have dropped by over 90% compared to April 2019. Airline operators will take many years to regain 2019 operational levels. Given the context of evermore rapid climate change and uncertainties about predicting passenger numbers in the future, the application to increase passenger numbers to 43 mppa is not consistent with the current position and is entirely inappropriate at this time. Instead of further expansion of the airport we need swift and immediate action on an unprecedented scale and pace to ensure that we have a more sustainable and inclusive future. The current global pandemic is a wake-up call we cannot ignore and there is ever increasing evidence that climate change is will be a catastrophe that will dwarf the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Respiratory problems associated with polluted air have been exposed by the Covid-19 crisis. A greener economy is one that will improve public health with cleaner air. It is time the aviation industry demonstrated a greater understanding about its role in lessening the adverse impact of air travel on our climate. Surface Access and Lack of Infrastructure The M11 Junction 8 is already at capacity at peak times and will not cope with the extra traffic that the proposed development would bring. MAG has said in its Environmental Statement that the development would have, with mitigation, little effect on surface access and transport. We do not agree with this. Some mitigation measures had been proposed by Essex Highways – these would not have helped the situation very much but even this is not going to happen now as Essex Highways has said that it would not proceed with the scheme at this stage ‘due to unforeseen financial and governance constraints.’ Takeley residents have to use Junction 8 every time they go into Bishop’s Stortford, the nearest town, and often experience queues. Also the A120 leading up to Junction 8 has long queues in the morning rush hour and therefore the B1256 main road through Takeley village is used by commuters going to Bishop’s Stortford to avoid these queues. Since part of Stansted Airport is in Takeley parish we are particularly concerned about an increase in local road traffic which an increase in passengers at Stansted would inevitably bring. The roads in and around Takeley are often narrow and winding. These are used to access the airport by travellers and workers. The Four Ashes crossroads in the middle of Takeley is particularly busy at peak times. The rail service between the airport and London Liverpool Street is already a very busy line in normal times serving commuters into London as well as airport passengers. A lot of housing development is under construction at the moment or already has planning permission both in and around Bishop’s Stortford and Uttlesford which will inevitably mean more commuters using the railway. The airport operates on a 24 hour basis and local road traffic starts to increase as early as 4am and is also significant well past midnight. There is also a significant volume of traffic throughout the night to support the airport’s cargo operations. Both contribute to increased noise at unsocial hours as well as poorer air quality. Conclusion We urge the Planning Inspectors to look at this application in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic as well and how it is likely to impact on future travel arrangements over the next few years. Whilst recognising that the financial impact has been devastating for the aviation industry, this application to is clearly inconsistent with what is happening across the world. It is quite clear that there is considerable momentum around the world to demand that governments take appropriate action to ensure that we have a sustainable and greener future.