These trials will affect Taplow of course so we shall just have to wait and see what happens about noise levels. Ed.
People living under the Heathrow flight path face increasing noise
following the introduction of new runway rules. The airports operator,
BAA, is to trial a scheme allowing the use of both runways simultaneously
from July to September.
Currently those living under the flight path have a respite from noise
in the afternoon, when the runways are restricted to take-off or landing
alternating daily. Under the trial, which will also run from November
to February, the threshold for triggering emergency dual use of the
runways will be lowered.
During the trial, dual use can be deployed when a plane faces a 10-minute wait to land or take-off and if 30% of all flights are delayed by more than 15 minutes. The average delay for flights is 12 minutes.
John Stewart of the Hacan Clearskies environmental campaign group said:
'There is a real danger that people will remember the Olympics simply
for the noise of flights.' A spokeswoman for the BAA said: 'The trial
will not involve significant long-term breaches of respite periods.
These changes do not mean there will always be flight overhead in some
communities.'
Genevieve Roberts
