Letter in response to runway 21 airspace change proposal

Letter in response to runway 21 airspace change proposal

David Winstanley
Chief Executive Officer
London Biggin Hill Airport EGKB,
Biggin Hill, Bromley TN16 3BH

Dear David

Bromley Council’s stakeholder engagement response

Thank you for the opportunity to engage with you about your proposed airspace change to introduce RNAV to the approach to Runway 21. The council does have a number of observations, which I would encourage you to seriously consider as you take this proposal forward.
I am sure you understand that the council views the opportunity to minimise noise disturbance for Bromley residents as absolutely integral to any airspace change, along with any other environmental improvements that can be made.

You will know that both the council and local residents have expressed this view to the airport, through direct enquiries, the Airport Consultative Committee and to the council’s Airport Monitoring Officer. I am aware you have taken on board much of what has been said, which is welcome. I would encourage you to continue to engage with the people of Bromley in this way to recognise, understand and address their concerns, seizing the chance to reduce noise disturbance at every possible opportunity.

Within the context of this particular airspace change proposal, we would like to explore the possibility of keeping aircraft higher for longer as a way of minimising the intrusive aircraft noise experienced by residents, particularly those living directly under the flightpath. Adjusting the angle of descent would diminish such invasive noise, not just for those living very locally to the airport, but also those in the north of the borough who reside under or close to the Runway 21 ILS flightpath. Whilst I accept that the airport would need CAA permission to alter the angle of descent, please can you look carefully at what might be acceptable and seriously explore this with the CAA. I do believe this proposal does accord with the principles being outlined by government and would minimise noise disturbance for many residents if the angle were increased.

In preparing this request, we have been in contact with our acoustic noise consultant, who has confirmed that there may be some benefit to taking this action.

We accept that the implementation of RNAV is an important technological step to take to improve the workings of the airport and don’t raise any objections to this, but at the same time we would like time to study the future proposals fully to ascertain if there are any other ways you could improve the situation for Bromley residents, a goal I recognise you are committed to achieving.

Given that safety is always paramount, our focus must be on noise reduction for Bromley’s residents, so we would rank the first 2 design principals equally and in the following order:

  1. Environmental concerns
  2. Safety
  3. Replication
  4. Efficient routes
  5. Navigation standards
  6. Compliance

Our thanks for taking these views under consideration and making noise minimisation a priority of this process.

Please continue to keep the council informed, as I know you will about the progress of this early stage application. I would be grateful for your views on our suggestion to increase the angle of descent, which I would want to share more widely.

Yours sincerely

Councillor Graham Arthur

Executive Councillor for Resources, Commissioning and Contract Management