Judge gives go ahead to night flights challenge

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resulting in a judicial review of the Government's plans to change the rules governing night flights at Heathrow..

Mr Justice Sullivan today ordered an expedited hearing of a challenge brought by Wandsworth and Richmond councils to the new arrangements.

The councils fear the changes could lead to a threefold increase in the number of arrivals before 6am.

The case will examine the Government's claim that it is prevented by EU guidance from amending performance-based operating restrictions for aircraft - even though it has admitted that the engine noise data on which these
restrictions are based is faulty.

Last year Wandsworth noise experts revealed that many of the aircraft arriving before 6am had been assigned too low a noise rating.

This is because most of the early morning arrivals at Heathrow are B747-400s with Rolls Royce engines. These have been allocated a score of 2 points when the Department for Transport's own research shows that they should be in a QC4 or QC8 category.

The result was that the true noise level was 75 per cent higher than claimed.

Wandsworth Council leader Edward Lister said:

"Half a million people in south and west london have their sleep disturbed by the 16 planes that come in before 6am. If the Government gets its way these numbers could treble.

"The Government has admitted that the system it uses to set limits on noise in the early hours is based on faulty data - yet it refuses to correct this. Instead it hides behind EU guidelines which it says it has no power to vary.

"The fact is if the Government wanted to improve the noise climate for people in west London it could. All they would need to do is adjust the engine noise data to bring it in line with operational performance. Nothing in the EU guidelines prevents them from doing this. I am delighted that the Government's claims will be tested in court. If they are proved to be bogus that will be a huge victory in the fight to prevent an escalation in night flights."

If the councils are successful the Government would be forced to re-run the consultation which ended on October 29.


November 19, 2004