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What have we learned so far from FAL’s consultations?

The first three sessions have taken place and another three take place this week. The deadline for comments is Wednesday 18th October. You can email Contact@FarnboroughAirport2040.com, complete the online form at https://farnboroughairport2040.com/share-your-views/ or complete a paper copy (available at meetings).

What have people said about the sessions so far?

There are very strong feelings against the proposals with some people in tears at the Maltings event. 90% of people attending the events are against the proposals. There has been a steady increase in people signing the petition.

Very little data has been provided by FAL to substantiate the statements being made and many of the challenges by members of the public have resulted in airport representatives agreeing with the public’s views. Some statements by the airport are deliberately misleading. People have commented that the airport’s text regarding emissions gives the impression that flights as well as ground operations aim to achieve net zero. This claim only relates to ground operations. The 98% of emissions from flights remains unabated and will grow significantly with increasing flights.

The economic benefits of flight operations have been deliberately mis-represented. For example claiming that “the airport” provides 3,000 jobs locally and £200m GVA but only £2.8m in Corporation Tax was paid in 2021 and only 156 jobs relate to flight operations (HMRC accounts 2021). The majority of jobs and economic value have nothing to do with flights so increasing the number of flights will have marginal benefit but cause considerable harm. Of the direct on-airport jobs, only 18% of them are filled by people living in the borough of Rushmoor (Lichfields 2022 report 6.11).

Not surprisingly, there is no mention of the negative impact of the proposals. People who have lived near the airport for many years talk about the constant noise and smell of jet fumes. It is particularly bad at weekends. Before the airport was privatised, there were very few flights on a Saturday and practically none on a Sunday. Now there are up to 20 an hour and people can no longer enjoy being outside. The proposal to increase sound insulation grants only benefits a very small number of people and does nothing to address the increase in noise disturbance outside. The CAA would never approve a new airport in a congested urban area like Farnborough so it is hard to understand why expanding it would be acceptable with the increasing risks to health and safety. Rushmoor Borough Council (and most other councils in the area) objected to the previous increases in flights and presumably those concern have increased, not reduced. There was no measurement of noise or pollution during the PIR, even though the CAA committed to MPs that noise would be measured. It would certainly be inappropriate for a planning authority to consider any increase in flights until adequate noise and pollution monitoring has taken place.

The change in flightpaths in 2020 resulted in many people not previously disturbed by aircraft now raising concerns regarding the current number of flights let alone proposals to increase them. The view across all areas is that it is unreasonable that so many people should have their lives blighted by a very small number of people who want to use private jets when almost all the destinations are serviced by commercial flights.