Newsletter from anti airport expansion group DEMAND

For example, the number of cargo flights in four years’ time is predicted to be almost twice as high as it was in 2004. If the proposals in the Master Plan are implemented, it will mean more than 375 daily movements of aircraft, with aeroplanes taking off or landing every minute and a half. Furthermore many of these flights will be heavier and noisier than those operating at present because the Master Plan also predicts a quadrupling of the tonnage over the same period. Night flights between the hours of 11pm and 7am are anticipated to increase in frequency even faster than those in the day. The lack of government restriction on these noisy, wakeful and mainly cargo-laden flights distinguishes NEMA from other major airports, such as Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, all of which are ‘designated’. This means that their operations are strictly controlled by central government with limits being set on the number of night flights permitted. Why should NEMA escape such controls? Penny Coates, the Managing Director of the airport, claims that the airport can regulate itself, by fining airlines whose pilots do not adhere to some airport-defined noise limits or who stray outside their air corridors. But is it realistic to expect effective control within a system in which the airport assumes the responsibility for penalising its own customers? Although the Master Plan outlines plans to replace the noisiest of aircraft and to encourage more pilots to use what is known as ‘continuous descent approaches’, it is a fact that at present 18,000 aircraft per year are NOT using available noise-abatement procedure. Some of the world’s largest ‘planes use NEMA, including the massive and thunderous Antonov AN124s. Much needs to be done to prohibit such monsters, which not only waken residents at night but also add considerable pollution to our skies. Nottingham East Midlands Airport is currently the third largest freight hub in Europe and commercial carriers are flocking there as other airports refuse to have them. Don’t let the East Midlands become the dumping ground for all this unwanted freight, noise and pollution.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO OBJECT TO THE EXPANSION PLANS ?

1. Write to one or all of the addresses in the adjacent box.

2. Sign the petition on the DEMAND web site  http://www.demand.uk.net

3. Contact the campaign HQ (0116 2599929) DEMAND HQ, PO Box 7848, Kings Norton, Leics. LE7 9WX to make a donation (cheques made payable to ELVAA please) or to offer other means of support.

4. Attend a meeting at Illston-on-the-Hill Village Hall at 7pm on 17th March (guest speaker: Edward Garnier MP).

5. Request a copy of the Master Plan (‘phone 0845 6100626 or e-mail  masterplan@nottinghamema.com) and respond to the accompanying questionnaire.

DEMAND that EAST MIDLANDS AIRPORT is NOW DESIGNATED

No noisy night freight over the East Midlands.

Objection letters should be sent to:

The Minister for Aviation
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DR

Mrs Penny Coates
Managing Director
Nottingham East Midlands Airport, Castle Donington
Derby DE74 2SA

Director Airspace Policy
CAA House
45-59 Kingsway
London WC2B 6TE

Your local MP
c/o House of Commons
London SW1 0AA
Draft letters WILL BE available at  http://www.demand.uk.net

The DEMAND Campaign Group started life as ELVAA – East Leicestershire Villages Against Airspace – but has now broadened its activities to include the concerns of all residents affected by NEMA’s operations and with its principal aim being the designation of the airport.
DEMAND needs to raise in excess of £7000 to cover independent consultancy fees and to support its activities generally. Please send donations and other offers of support to the campaign HQ. DEMAND is a properly constituted organization, supported by local MPs from
all political parties. It also has the support of Leicestershire CC as well as district and parish councils.

Steve Charlish

Chairman East Leicestershire Villages Against Airspace and DEMAND Campaign Group 01162596990

DEMAND HQ, PO Box 7848, Kings Norton, Leicestershire. LE7 9WX