Plea to Government after High Court noise ruling

8.37.00pm GMT Fri 23rd May 2008

• THE High Court ruled today that the Transport Secretary was under no obligation to improve conditions for residents woken up by early morning arrivals at Heathrow.

Mr Justice Sullivan said that while the Government had a policy of bearing down on night noise this did not necessarily mean that it had to make things better. He added that the policy was, therefore, "vacuous." Richmond, Wandsworth, and Windsor and Maidenhead Councils claimed that the Transport Secretary had acted unlawfully in failing to properly address concerns over the misclassification of aircraft arriving at Heathrow before 6am. Half the planes in this early morning period had been placed in the wrong noise category, the Councils contended. If they had been correctly classified they would not have been able to fly. The Government argued that because the night flights scheme pooled noise data over the three London airports it did not have to take specific action on what was a Heathrow problem. The local authorities argued that actual noise levels for all the early morning arrivals breached the limit of 87 decibels set for departures. They argued that if the Government's aim was to protect residents from excessive noise, it should have acted on this discrepancy.

Leader of Richmond Council, Cllr Serge Lourie, said: "Residents will be astonished to learn that, provided the numbers stack up at Gatwick and Stansted, Ministers do not have to do anything about night-noise at Heathrow. It will be difficult now for residents to have any confidence that Ministers will make a proper assessment of the environmental impact of Heathrow expansion. All the Councils will now step up their call for a complete ban on night-flights. This is our ultimate goal - to end this continuing noise misery for our residents."

On average there are around 16 early morning arrivals each day at Heathrow between 4.30am and 6am. Eight of these are ranked in a QC2 category when subsequent noise tests showed they should have been in a higher band (QC4) for which there is a scheduling ban at this time of night. The application for a Judicial Review was supported by Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow, Lambeth, and Hillingdon Councils and the GLA. All the authorities are members of the 2M Group, which campaigns against Heathrow expansion and fights to protect the quality of life of residents in their local communities.

For more information visit www.2mgroup.org.uko