WE ARE HACAN EAST

HACAN East is a campaign group made up of concerned residents from East London and South East London mainly concerned about the impact of London City Airport. Some of us, though, live under the flight paths of both London City and Heathrow airports.

HACAN East is the successor body to Fight the Flights which mounted a four year campaign to prevent permission being given for a 50% increase in flights using City Airport.

HACAN East is a sister organisation to HACAN, the long-standing organisation which represents people under the Heathrow flight paths – www.hacan.org.uk

HACAN East argues that noise levels in the area are already unacceptable. It opposed the permission a few years back for a 50% increase in the number of planes using the City Airport, permitting 111,000 planes to use it each year.

HACAN East opposes the concentration of City's flight paths without any respite being provided.

HACAN East recognises that airports can bring jobs and help the economy but questions whether the economic benefits of an expanded City Airport will outweigh the environmental problems it will bring.

HACAN EAST IN THE NEWS

Following the announcement of the expansion decision, HACAN East has featured prominently in the media. We appeared on BBC London News and were quoted in the Times, Telegraph and Financial Times as well as many of the local papers.

IMPLICATIONS OF PUBLIC INQUIRY DECISION

On Monday 19th August the Government announced its decision on London City Airport’s application to expand (see our immidate press release below). It endorsed the Public Inquiry Inspector’s recommendations:

REFUSED permission for planes to operate on Saturday afternoons

GRANTED permission to operate 3 more planes during the first half hour of operation from 6.30am till 7am

GRANTED permission to increase annual passenger numbers from 6.5 million to 9 million a year

Full judgment: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/planning-applications-called-in-decisions-and-recovered-appeals#recovered-planning-appeals

The preservation of the weekend break is a big win for communities, Newham Council, the planning authority and the many MPs, GLA members and councils who fought to preserve the break from the noise between 12.30pm on Saturday and 12.30 on Sunday.

At the Inquiry City Airport argued that Saturday afternoon flying was central to its strategy to attract 'high value' leisure passengers to replace the diminishing business market. That argument was not accepted by the Inspector.

Remember, City was not applying for permission to operate more planes. There is a cap of 111,000 per year. In due course, any extra passengers will largely be accommodated on larger planes. These planes will cause less climate emissions. But they will not be significantly quieter. Although they will be quieter on departure close to the airport, they are unlikely to be noticeably quieter elsewhere. Private jets did not feature in City's application.

What are the implications of the decision?

The weekend break will remain

If the market is there, the airport may reach its annual ceiling of 111,000 within about 6 or 7 years. But there is considerable doubt whether the market will be there. In 2019, the last full year of operation, there were 83,000 flights. Last year it was just over 50,000.

New planes will be gradually phased in. They will be larger (though, because of where the airport is sited, there is a limit to the size of plane that can be accommodated - Ryanair and Easyjet plans, for example, are too big for it. The will be marginally quieter, though the difference in most places will be so small that it will be imperceptible to the human ear; only on departure close to the airport will there be a noticeable difference. They are likely to be more fuel-efficient than the current planes and so emit less CO2 emissions.

More information on News and London City Public Inquiry pages

UPDATE on the concentrated flight paths

The Public Consultation is now not expected until 2025, or maybe even 2026. All airports in the UK are required to change their flight paths as air traffic control moves from a ground-based system to a satellite system. The change needs to take place in a co-ordinated way. London City concentrated its flight paths in 2016. The airport sees the coming consultation as a chance to alternate its flight paths so as to give people a break from the noise.

More Information on our Flightpaths page

FOR A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE AIRPORT, read our report

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:b7f60c62-9c88-390c-86e9-94e933a22333

DID YOU KNOW

• LCY already have permission for 111,000 flights per year; up to 592 flights per weekday

• LCY have 5 noise monitors close to the airport and 1 in SE28; the only monitor south of the river. You can access these monitors to see the noise measurement an aircraft from ANY airport creates as it flies over. https://webtrak.emsbk.com/lcy

• London is the most overflown city in the world, with 6 London airports (LCY, Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Southend). We also hear long haul planes that overfly the UK

• Home buyers can research if your home is under a concentrated flight path, which could jeopardise your house sale

• A concentrated flight path (first introduced in 2016) means all aircraft follow the same route; like a motorway. It means there is no escape if you live under it. The routes will be reviewed in 2025. If you want your views heard, keep following HACAN East

• 16 London boroughs live under the concentrated flight paths of LCY

• LCY does not communicate with all those under their flight paths when they want to make changes that affect us, so our views often go unheard

In the UK there are over 50 campaign groups against airport noise, pollution and expansion. Every major country also have campaign groups. We are not alone.

• International studies have identified how aircraft noise and pollution impacts health; sleep deprivation, stress, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, dementia, etc

• LCY is in the London Borough of Newham, who have approved all previous expansion planning applications. However, Newham Council have rejected the latest application for more early morning flights and flights till 7:30pm on a Saturday

• There are several free apps you can download to monitor all the aircraft in your area. FlightRadar24 shows you which operator, height, time, date, etc. you’ll realise that not all noisy aircraft relate to LCY

• There is a free app you can download called Explane. It measures the decibels of one aircraft overhead. It also records which operator, height, time, date, etc. you can submit the information to an international database.

• Although you may record 75-80 decibels of noise from a single aircraft, the Civil Aviation Authority allows airports to average out the sound over 16 hours (7am-11pm) so it reduces the appearance of the impact on Londoners

• LCY suggest that when new generation aircraft finally come to the airport, they will be 5 decibels quieter. Scientists have proved that the human ear will not be able to detect any decrease in noise

• Your voice can be heard at the quarterly LCY Consultative Committee attended by HACAN East

Hacan East