Council: Luton Airport plane stack ‘in the wrong place’
21.05.08
The proposed Luton Airport holding stack over Huntingdonshire is in completely the wrong place, Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) will tell the air traffic control company National Air Traffic Service (NATS) in its response to the current consultation on the plans.
NATS has suggested replacing two stacks - one for Stansted called Abbot and centred on Sudbury, Suffolk, and a joint Stansted / Luton stack over Royston, called Lorel - with three new stack, one of which would involve jets encircling parts of south Huntingdonshire and South Cambridgeshire at heights between 7000 and 14,000 feet.
The proposal has incensed HDC's cabinet, with Councillor Terry Rogers saying that the NATS proposals as operationally flawed and in the wrong place. He said: ‘If Lorel and Abbott are currently working well, why not kept them? Even at 7000 feet there will be noise and, if they are going to implement a third one, why is there a need to have it over Huntingdonshire? The ideal position would be over Newmarket and south-east Cambridgeshire.’
The cabinet is also concerned that NATS used old maps to formulate its plans, failing to take account of the thousands of new homes being built, such as those at Cambourne, Northstowe and in Huntingdon and St Neots.
Council leader Ian Bates said: ‘They have not taken account of population growth, forthcoming environmental issues relating to the EU and quality of life in relation to what noise you are used to. In the rural community, the noise level is generally much lower than in the town. I want to know where else they considered putting this and why they rejected it. Our response must be robust.’
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