Issue - meetings

In 2008 South Cambridgeshire District Council responded to a public consultation carried out by NATS about proposed changes to the movement of aircraft over the south east of England. This included proposed changes to the way aircraft would move over our district.   It was anticipated that a second round of consultation was to be carried out by NATS by the end of September 2010.  However it has just been announced that they are postponing plans for further consultation.  Instead the proposals will be incorporated into a wider review of airspace over southern England.  The downturn in air traffic levels since the 2008 consultation on proposed changes in the Terminal Control North area means there is less urgency on capacity grounds to achieve the changes.  Current forecasts show the air traffic levels are not expected to return to the peak levels of 2007 until at least 2013/14.  In their letter to us it should be noted that they say that '...doing nothing is not a long term option.'  We will keep you informed of any future consultations.

NATS carried out a consultation last year about revising aircraft movement in the airspace over the East Of England which included creating new holds over South Cambridgeshire for aircraft using Stansted and Luton airports. NATS have notified the Council that there will be no second TCN consultation on revised air routes until at least September next year. Revised airspace designs for the TCN region will not be ready for consultation before then. 

NATS have stated that   ' The general downturn in air traffic levels internationally since the first TCN consultation means there is less urgency than originally for this development..........However doing nothing is not a long term option if we are to further enhance safety in the TCN area and we anticipate bringing forward some smaller changes from the TCN proposal while we continue work on the overall design.'

NATS have indicated that they will let the Council know when they have a date for the second consultation. Meanwhile they are working on changes and developments as a result of the feedback they received during last year's consultation. 

NATS, the UK's air traffic management company, is to conduct a new consultation on revised proposals to redraw the aircraft route map in the area of south-east England known in airspace terms as Terminal Control North (TCN).  This TCN area includes the airspace above South Cambridgeshire.  It follows detailed consideration of feedback received during NATS original consultation in 2008.  South Cambridgeshire District Council responded to this earlier consultation expressing surprise that only one option had been included in the consultation and concern at the positioning of the holds above our District.  It would appear that this second round of consultation will in some areas present an alternative route for consideration, to allow a degree of choice of those in the area affected.  It will also look at whether it is possible to include an alternative option on the precise positions of the holds.

The second consultation will be later this year; the date is still to be decided, although it will not be before July. The revised airspace design is currently being formulated, tested in simulation and assessed for safety, efficiency and impact on populations.

Following on from the consultation that was carried out by NATS earlier this year an initial feedback report was published in July 2008.    It has now been announced that further design options and suggestions are being evaluated and therefore there will be delays to the timetable.  It had been the intention to submit a final design to the Civil Aviation Authority this month but this will be done at a later date and a revised timescale will be produced. 

The key areas where further options are being considered include some directly relevant to South Cambridgeshire -

• The location of, and procedures for, arrival routes/holds for Luton, Stansted and London City
• Stansted departures in the vicinity of Bishops Stortford and Saffron Walden

If this current work leads to any proposed options that are significantly different from those contained in the recent consultation or from the current situation NATS have stated that they may carry out further consultation.   Members will be advised when the revised timetable is made available by NATS.

NATS has published an initial feedback report on their website in reply to all the representations they received concerning the proposed changes to aircraft stacking arrangements for Stansted and Luton airports.   It is only an initial response and simply outlines the main areas of concern that were expressed by those that responded to the consultation.   

The link is -

http://www.consultation.nats.co.uk/downloads/13/download_consultation_document.html

The relevant document is the first one on the list of downloadable documents -  ' Initial Feedback Report 22 July 2008'. 

Cabinet Agreed that the Growth and Sustainability portfolio holder should be given delegated responsibility to submit the Council’s response to the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) no less than 48 hours after the suggested response had been sent to all elected members. 

Cabinet

AGREED     

That the Growth and Sustainability portfolio holder should be given delegated responsibility to submit the Council’s response to the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) no less than 48 hours after the suggested response had been sent to all elected members.

Cabinet’s suggested response to NATS are:

(a)               Only one option - Whilst recognising that airspace management is complex the Council would have preferred to have greater details provided on the alternative options since these might have assisted in understanding why the final option was considered to be the best. NATS has not complied with the CAA guidance in this matter. The Council request that additional information be provided on the other options considered by NATS.

(b)               Additional holds proposed - The Council support the removal of the sharing of holds by Luton and Stansted given that this will improve the operational safety and efficiency of aircraft movements over this District.  The Council are concerned that Stansted is to have two holds with the implication that there is then the need to position more holds over the South Cambridgeshire area. There has been no reasoned justification for the need for two holds.

(c)               Holds for Luton and West Stansted - The Council is concerned that the two new holds which will experience an increase in aircraft activity are part of the District which are very rural in character with low ambient noise at present and the disturbance to these areas will be greater than if flights were over more populated areas or ones with a higher ambient noise such as near busy roads.  It is likely to cause disturbance to the communities living in these areas as is highlighted in the BAA publication on noise. The frequency in which aircraft use the holds could create an intermittent noise pattern that would disturb these quiet rural areas.

(d)               The Council is also concerned that diverting air traffic north of Saffron Walden will have detrimental effect on the quality of life for villages in the south of the District.

(e)               The Council is concerned by the impact these proposals will have upon the racing industry around Newmarket.

(f)                 The Council request that alternative positions for the holds should be seriously considered in areas where there is a higher ambient noise level – such as nearer to the A1 corridor.  As NATS did not provide information on the alternative locations considered by them it is difficult to assess the advantages of their proposed holds. CAP 725 states that as a result of a consultation NATS should be prepared to challenge long-standing beliefs and this must be the case in re- positioning the holds away from quiet rural areas. (CAP 725 Page 8 para 20(g))

(g)               Populations affected - The Council is concerned that the population figures used by NATS in this document to indicate the numbers of people affected by the new holds appear to be erroneous showing lower figures than those calculated by the County Council.  The benefits of the  ...  view the full decision text for item 161

The portfolio holder for Growth and Sustainable Communities introduced this item on the Council’s response to the proposals by the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) to change the way in which aircraft fly over southern and eastern England. It was noted that:

• NATS were extending the period of its consultation by 4 weeks to enable parish councils to have sufficient time to comment on the proposals in recognition of the fact that the there was a delay in parishes receiving notification of the consultation.
• As a result of having received a number of responses from the racing industry around Newmarket, NATS will consider whether there are options for changing the design or the air traffic control procedures to limit the perceived effect the design may have on the area.

Other airfields

It was noted that the effect these proposals would have on Duxford and other airfields in the District, including those in the Gamlingay ward needed to be considered.

North of Stansted

It was noted that under these proposals flight paths were being moved closer to Saffron Walden, which could have an adverse effect on residents living in the south of the District.

Impact on rural areas

Cabinet were reassured by officers that the level of noise disturbance was calculated with reference to background noise, so the greater impact that noise would have on rural areas, when compared to urban areas, would be taken into account.

Writing to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Government

Cabinet agreed to write a letter to the CAA and the relevant Government Minister, expressing the Council’s concerns regarding these proposals.

Consultation

Cabinet welcomed the decision by NATS to extend its consultation period and agreed that elected members should be given an opportunity to comment on the Council’s response to these proposals. It was also agreed that to ensure a timely reply, authority for approving the final wording of the Council’s response to NATS should be delegated to the Growth and Sustainable Communities portfolio holder.

It was agreed to circulate to all Councillor the response from NATS to the questions presented to them from Councillor VG Ford.

Cabinet

AGREED     

That the Growth and Sustainability portfolio holder should be given delegated responsibility to submit the Council’s response to the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) no less than 48 hours after the suggested response had been sent to all elected members.

Cabinet’s suggested response to NATS are:

(a)               Only one option - Whilst recognising that airspace management is complex the Council would have preferred to have greater details provided on the alternative options since these might have assisted in understanding why the final option was considered to be the best. NATS has not complied with the CAA guidance in this matter. The Council request that additional information be provided on the other options considered by NATS.

(b)               Additional holds proposed - The Council support the removal of the sharing of holds by Luton and Stansted given that this will improve the operational safety and efficiency of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 161

NATS are carrying out a consultation on proposals to change the way aircraft fly over parts of London, southern and eastern England.  Comments are required by 22 May and the Council will be responding to this consultation.  NATS were invited to come and give a presentation to councillors about these proposals and how they will affect this district.

Please note that the minutes of this briefing have been put together by NATS and not SCDC.  We are aware that there are names misspelt and a request has been sent to NATS to make the relevant amendments, for which a response is awaited.  As these are not minutes produced by SCDC, all amendments must be dealt with by NATS and cannot be done by SCDC officers.

Airspace change is a complex process and NATS applies the utmost rigour to developing design proposals which give full consideration to all the issues surrounding safety, efficiency and the environment.

As a world leader in air traffic management, it is our intention to provide best practice airspace solutions that allow not only for the growth we have to accommodate, but also our responsibility to our neighbours and to the environment.

This development of the Terminal Control North airspace region covers a large part of London, southern and eastern England, an area with a population of 12 million people and home to some of the UK's busiest airports.

NATS is seeking feedback on this proposal before submitting it to the UK airspace regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, for a decision.

This website is part of the consultation process and is designed to provide an overview of the proposals and how they affect different parts of the region. If you think the changes are relevant to you the detailed consultation document is available through the link on each page of this site.

A postcode search facility illustrates the changes and there is a downloadable DVD which provides an introduction to the proposal and outlines how the proposed changes affect different parts of the region.

This consultation process started on 21 February 2008 and runs until 22 May 2008 - a period of 13 weeks.

A feedback form is available on this site for you to register your views. All feedback received during this period will be analysed and summarised in a report which will be published on the NATS website by 22 June 2008. 

Please note that South Cambridgeshire District Council will be making a formal response in due course.