Week end flights update from Local Rag

[Admin (Annette Andria)]

Anger over delay in weekend flights decision
by Lindsey Eudo-Mitchell.



FRUSTRATIONS is increasing over the delay of a government ruling on extending the number of weekend flights at Farnborough Airport.

A decision was due in October but was put off to allow the Secretary of State for Transport to view the plans.
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Airport operator TAG Aviation asked Rushmoor Borough Council for permission to increase business flights at the weekends from 2,500 to 5,000 each year in October 2005.

An inquiry was held in 2007 and a decision was expected in October but was put off without a new date being set.

Three months on there has still not been progress, which all sides agree is not helping any of them.

Business at the airport is suffering according to Brandon O’Reilly, chief executive of owner TAG Farnborough.

Mr O’Reilly said: “We have been waiting for quite some period of time now, but a decision doesn’t seem to be forthcoming. We have undoubtedly turned away 2,500 movements last year, and we are continuing to refuse flights now. We get requests from all over Europe and all over the world to come into Farnborough at weekends, and a significant proportion are turned down.

“That is business being turned away, dissatisfied customers, and not making best use of our capacity.”

The area’s MP, Gerald Howarth, said the situation showed little compassion for the people of Farnborough or TAG as a business. He added: “It’s completely unacceptable that this matter should be dragged out in this way. It’s unforgivable that civil servants can be allowed to sit with this matter for nine months without one iota of care for local business and people.

“The fact is that there’s no pressure on them and there’s no compulsion to complete this within any given time whereas a business will find that delay costs money.”

Mr Howarth has received letters from concerned constituents who want to know why a decision has not been reached. He has spoken to aviation minister Jim Fitzpatrick and believes that the papers are still with lawyers for the Department for Communities and Local Government.

He said: “It’s contemptible that not only the company but people should be left in limbo for nine months.”

Glenn Morrison spoke against the proposals at the public inquiry and branded TAG as an “arrogant, ruthless and insatiable organisation set to gorge on our community until they are satisfied or stopped”.

The 37-year-old, who lives in Potteries Lane, Mytchett, with his wife and three children said residents thought the delay was a bad sign. “Residents fear the worst,” he added. “You are up against very big business with a lot of money and there’s not a single politician really on our side apart from the Green Party.

“There’s a handful of politicians in Hart, god bless them, but that’s generally it. You hear noise at infrequent times from aircraft flying overhead and know that someone somewhere is making a lot of money off your back.”

Andrew Lloyd, chief executive of Rushmoor Borough Council, admitted the situation had become frustrating.

He said the delay has made it difficult for the council — which opposed the extension of weekend flights — to make progress with its local development strategy.

“We’re still waiting to hear what’s happening,” said Mr Lloyd. “We understand that the decision has not yet been taken by the respective minister and we’re trying to find out when they’re likely to resolve it because we’re getting a bit frustrated with the delay.”

He said the council hoped to use the independent findings to develop airport policy and framework strategies for the area and was doing its utmost to chase up a response .

Mr Lloyd added: “We’re told it is actively being processed and that the decision is being actively pursued, but it’s extremely annoying because there’s not just one person we can call to find out what’s happening.”

He said the airport was at the heart of the community and was struggling to stay under the current restrictions.

While he hoped the delay showed that the government acknowledged the complexity of the application and the issues surrounding it, Mr Lloyd hoped the matter would be resolved soon.

Mr O’Reilly agreed, adding that the delay was likely to be causing avoidable weekend congestion at other UK airports.

Mr O’Reilly added that TAG’s “master plan” for future use of the airport depended heavily on the recommendations included in the inspector’s report.He said that a planned public consultation, due to begin before the end of March this year, would start whether a decision had been reached or not.

“Everyone is waiting for the information from the inspector’s report and we want to get it out there as soon as we can,” said Mr O’Reilly.

We hope that the decision will be taken before then, but we will start the consultation if we have not had a decision.”

Mr Howarth said: “It is a disgrace that the inquiry ended in April and still a decision has not been made. I personally hope the decision is favourable for TAG — but get on with it.

You are not improving the quality of the decision making by dragging it out.”

[Admin (Annette Andria)]

HI

KEEP em all Crossed The local paper Stop press says that the
Government has made a decision on the weekend flights ,
decision will be announced Soon . KEEP EM PEELED
in papers and EARS on RADIO \TV ANY UPDATE POST ASAP

T

[Admin (Annette Andria)]

arnborough airport weekend flight decision made

The government’s verdict is expected to be announced in the next few days.

However, a spokesman for the government department responsible for making the decision has said that there is still no date set for the announcement.

TAG, the company that owns the airport, wants to increase the number of weekend movements at the airport from 2,500 to 5,000 a year – a move that was initially blocked by Rushmoor Borough Council.

TAG took the application to appeal and a public inquiry was held in January and April last year, lasting a total of eight days.

A decision was expected by October 31, but the government then decided that a loophole in the planning law allowed it to ignore the deadline.

Four months on, TAG, the council and people living around the airport are still waiting for a joint decision by Hazel Blears, secretary of state for communities and local government, and transport minister Ruth Kelly.

The Farnborough News and Mail will announce the decision as soon as it is made on www.farnborough.co.uk. Look out for more in-depth analysis and comment in the Farnborough Mail, out on Tuesday, and Friday’s Farnborough News.

[Mike]

Three interesting articles on the Farnborough News web site

1) As previously mentioned the decision regarding weekend movements has been made but not announced

2) Re-establishing planning permission for new hangers with expected capacity of up to 737 size craft

3) Report of a light aircraft making an unauthorised landing in the middle of the night

I blame it on aliens

Mike

[Admin (Annette Andria)]

PROBABLY Your right as for late night early morning why on earth was that Nimby up watching or listening Even for unorthorised FAB flights at 2AM . I Have a neighbour up the road (BARKING) Who reckoned every night a year or so ago somone flew 747s into fab after Dark on passenger services
has written many times to complain never recieved a reply .I Now keep distance between US MILES if possible

[Deleted]

admin said:

I Have a neighbour up the road (BARKING) Who reckoned every night a year or so ago somone flew 747s into fab after Dark on passenger services

What was he on & where can I get some!!

[Deleted]

At that time of the night it was obviously on a rendition flight for the CIA !

[Admin (Annette Andria)]

carefull now rumours bloody nimbys have eyes ears Everywhere and this i have no doubt
gets read by just about anyone . And if you are reading this Good evening to you whereever in
Nimby land you are . its more likely to have been STARSHIP 0008 FROM ALFA CENTURI with Shergah at the controls anyway Ive been summoned to mars for a pint with captain John Smith
so Beam me up scotty

[Admin (Annette Andria)]

News in Farnborough
Delay over weekend flights decision 'a disgrace'
by Pete Castle.



The government’s failure to announce a decision on week-end flying at Farnborough Airport is “a disgrace”, according to a council boss.

Rushmoor Borough Council, plus people living around the airport and its flightpath in Farnborough, Fleet and Mytchett, have been eagerly awaiting the government’s decision on whether to allow airport owner TAG to double weekend flights from 2,500 to 5,000 a year.

Almost a year after an inspector finished an exhaustive public inquiry into the planning application, Whitehall officials are sitting on a decision made by ministers a fortnight ago.

There has been no explanation for the delay.

Andrew Lloyd, chief executive of Rushmoor, blasted the government for what he described as a “disgraceful” delay for residents, businesses, the local authority and the airport operator to have to deal with.

Speaking at the quarterly meeting of Farnborough Aerodrome Consultative Committee on Thursday last week, Mr Lloyd said that as a public servant and not a politician, he was not expected to criticise those in power.

However, he added: “To take this long undermines the credibility of the entire British planning system, and it is a disgrace and something that ought to be addressed.”

At the meeting, held at the headquarters of BAE Systems in Government House Road, Farnborough, it was confirmed that a decision has been reached by the government.

Both the minister for transport Ruth Kelly and minister for communities and local government Hazel Blears have now made their final decisions on whether to allow TAG to double the number of weekend flights at the airport.

However, there is still no indication as to when the decision will be made public.

Brandon O’Reilly, chief executive of TAG Farnborough, had told the meeting: “It is regrettable that I must tell you that we still have not received any information from central government.

“We do have a letter from the Under Secretary of State for Transport [aviation minister Jim Fitzpatrick MP] which states that as of February 21 a decision has been made, and that the announcement of that decision will be made shortly.

“Two weeks later, and we are still awaiting that decision. I will be writing tomorrow in the strongest possible terms to ask for the reason for that delay.

“It is in all out interests that that decision is made known to us.

“Without it, the future development plans are subject to review.

“The most important part of this, other than whether the decision is ‘yes’ or ‘no’, are the comments that the inspector will make.

“The letter from Jim Fitzpatrick says that one of the reasons that it had taken longer than expected was due to ‘complex issues to be dealt with’, which will clearly be reflected in the inspector’s report.”

Mr O’Reilly said that without the decision, the company was in no position to begin consulting on its “master plan” for the future of the airport, which he had promised would begin before the end of March.

The TAG boss added that he had no idea about the contents of the promised decision.

At the same meeting, Mr O’Reilly revealed that the airport has had to begin to turn away business during the week as well as at weekends due to a massive increase in demand.

While a record 26,507 aircraft took off or landed at Farnborough in 2007 — 95% of the allowed capacity — figures for January 2008 were already 26% up on the same month last year, the TAG boss said.

There were almost daily royal or diplomatic flights from the airport, Mr O’Reilly said.

Answering a question from a member of the public, he told the meeting that there had been 359 royal flights through Farnborough in 2007.

Under the terms of the airport’s licence, such flights do not count towards the 28,000 movement cap.

[Admin (Annette Andria)]

News in Farnborough
BREAKING NEWS... FARNBOROUGH AIRPORT ALLOWED TO INCREASE WEEKEND FLIGHTS DESPITE MASSIVE PUBLIC OPPOSITION
By Pete Castle.

THE operator of Farnborough Airport, TAG Aviation, has won its planning battle to double the number of weekend flights at the airport.

The government has made the ruling public this morning (Friday) after making the decision at least three weeks ago.

The airport can now accept up to 5,000 take-offs and landings a year – twice the previous allowed total of 2,500.

For the rest of this year, a pro-rata calculation will allow the airport to accept a total of 4,200 aircraft movements at weekends.

The government has agreed with TAG that the economic benefits of allowing an expansion of weekend activities outweighs any environmental impact in the surrounding area.

The government’s finding overrules the decision by the planning authority, Rushmoor Borough Council, who originally blocked the application in June 2006, before contesting the appeal against it by TAG.

Also published today is the 70-page report of the public inquiry held early last year by planning inspector Ken Smith (see 'Related files' below).

Check back on www.farnborough.co.uk for more analysis of the government’s decision throughout the day, and see Tuesday’s Farnborough Mail and next Friday’s Farnborough News for reports, analysis and reaction.

[Admin (Annette Andria)]

READ THE REPORT COPY ALL THE LINK

m.gmgrd.co.uk/sbres/977.$plit/C_67_article_2023866_binaryitems_binaryitemsitem_0_binaryitemitem.pdf

[Admin (Annette Andria)]

Ministers approve rise in weekend flights at airport
by Pete Castle.



The government has approved plans to double the number of weekend flights at Farnborough Airport.

The decision means that airport owner and operator TAG Aviation can allow up to 5,000 landings and take-offs on Saturdays and Sundays and bank holidays — twice the current cap of 2,500 a year.
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The decision upholds an appeal by TAG against a June 2006 ruling by Rushmoor Borough Council, which refused planning permission.

TAG can now legally begin operating at twice the previous allowed weekend capacity.
For the rest of this year, a pro-rata calculation will allow the airport to accept a total of 4,200 weekend aircraft movements in 2008.

The government agreed with TAG’s argument that the economic benefits of allowing an expansion of weekend activities outweighs any environmental impact on the surrounding area.

In a joint letter, signed on behalf of Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, the government agreed with the conclusions of planning inspector Ken Smith that the extra flights should be allowed.

Mr Smith’s report, written in June last year, followed a public inquiry held in January and April 2007. The publication of the report was delayed until the two government departments could agree on the final outcome.

The long-awaited decision sparked a mixture of relief and disappointment among sup-porters and opponents of the plans.

While aircraft operators welcomed the news, saying it would help to secure hundreds of jobs, many residents are fearful that doubling the number of low-flying private jets coming over their houses will spoil their weekends.

Speaking to the Mail, TAG chief executive Brandon O’Reilly said he was yet to read the report, but was pleased to hear that the appeal had been upheld.

He said: “I welcome the decision by the secretaries of state for Transport and Communities and Local Government.

“It means we will be able to satisfy the substantial demand from business aviation aircraft at weekends, thereby making better use of existing infrastructure, which is in accordance with the current government policy on aviation.

“It is also important to the community locally due to the economic benefits that that will generate, which we said was going to be the case during the inquiry.

“Irrespective of this verdict, we take our responsibility to the local area very seriously, and will continue to try to mitigate the effects of noise nuisance through the Farnborough Aerodrome Consultative Committee and through the development of the quiet flying programme.

“We will now be burying our heads in the inspector’s report to see what it says in detail.”
Geoff Marks, chairman of the Farnborough Airport Residents’ Association (FARA), said that people living around the airport would be adversely affected in their leisure time as a result of the decision.

In a statement, Mr Marks said: “We are naturally disappointed that the inspector has not given more weight to the arguments that were presented in favour of the retention of the current limit by FARA and others, including Rushmoor Borough Council.

“It is clear from the public’s response to the weekend flying consultation process, and their contributions to the inquiry, that not only were they concerned about their loss of amenity, but that the approval of TAG’s appeal would be seen as the government giving a green light to an overall increase in the number of movements.

“The secretary of state has noted that in making the decision she has had regard for TAG’s intention to prepare a master plan for the airport, but she has placed no weight upon this.
This is of little comfort given that, as I understand it, the appeal procedures would not allow her to do so.

“TAG are well under way with their master plan and no doubt it will be based on a premise of significant growth.

“Much of our case against the weekend increase applies equally to an overall increase. I am hopeful that some of the points made by the inspector in his very detailed report on the weekend issue will help us strengthen that case.”

Peter Moyle, leader of Rushmoor Borough Council, said the council was disappointed that its original decision had been overruled.

In a statement, Rushmoor said that the council refused planning permission because it considered it would negatively impact on the lives of people living near the airfield, particularly because of increased noise and distur-bance at times when they are likely to be home.

The council said it had also not been shown that there was overriding economic benefit and pointed out the increase would be contrary to a local planning policy, which restricts the amount of flying at weekends and bank holidays.

Cllr Moyle said: “Clearly we are disappointed that the council’s decision has been overturned.

“However, the decision has now been taken and it appears that the inspector, who managed the inquiry, and the secretaries of state have given careful consideration to the environmental and noise impacts, together with the economic benefits to Rushmoor and the surrounding area.

“Now that the decision has been made, the council will be able to develop its core strategy for the local development framework and engage residents in consultation on the way forward for the future shape of Rushmoor.”

Dave Edwards, general manager of Gama Aviation, a Farnborough-based private jet charter company, said the decision would help to secure 150 jobs in the area.

“We are very pleased,” Mr Edwards said on Friday. “The decision has literally arrived on my desk this morning. I haven’t yet got into the detail, but in general we are delighted that the decision has finally been made.

“It makes it easier for us to plan for our future at Farnborough, and that will apply for all companies here. It has always been a restriction, even as a Farnborough based-operator, over the past couple of years.

“It was certainly beginning to impact on our operations here at our base, which is a significant employer in the area.”

The company, which has recently expanded into North America, had been considering moving its operation along with 150 jobs to another area, Mr Edwards said.

“Because of the delays, we have been looking at putting in place contingency plans since October time.

“Since we were looking at other options for weekends, we started to wonder if we should look at other options for the rest of the time. This decision takes that pressure off.”
Farnborough was building a growing reputation abroad as the best business aviation centre in Europe, he said.

“This is a great airport to be at,” Mr Edwards said. “It is the best in Europe, and people in the US all know the facility at Farnborough and recognise it as one of the best in the world. It would have been a shame if the government had gone the other way, which would have affected our long-term plans.”

Gerald Howarth, Tory MP for Aldershot, Farnborough, Blackwater and Yateley, has been a staunch supporter of TAG throughout the appeal process.

The qualified pilot said the inspector’s report highlighted the airport’s economic benefits to the town and the wider area and was “overall the right decision”.

“I have always argued that Farnborough provides a first class facility for the business community that uses it,” he said. “The inspector’s assertion that Farnborough Airport is extremely important confirms everything that has been said. He also established that there is a need for additional weekend movements.

“Having walked around the residential areas, his observation that the traffic noise generally masks the noise of aircraft movements is interesting.

“I quite accept that there will be some people who will be disappointed, but they cannot come to any other conclusion that the inspector has made a very careful and thorough investigation.”

However, his Conservative colleague Michael Gove, MP for Surrey Heath, was disappointed.
“Throughout, the clearly expressed will of local people was to maintain the balance between keeping Farnborough Airport viable and keeping weekends free from additional disruption,” Mr Gove said. “I am disappointed that local feeling has been overturned. I now hope that TAG, who are a valued employer, will recognise that for Surrey Heath residents, who will face additional disruption, an acknowledgement of that impact on this decision on them would be welcome.

“I respect the TAG management, even as I disagree with the need for increased weekend flying. But these responsible and reasonable people need to know these actions will impact on the quality of my constituents’ weekends and I hope that will be reflected.”

Andrew Lloyd, chief executive of Rushmoor Borough Council, said while many would be unhappy with the inspector’s conclusion that their quality of life would not be adversely affected, he was happy decision had finally been reached.

“It has taken an inordinate amount of time,” Mr Lloyd said. “It has been six months since the inspector wrote and dated the report. We need to spend time examining the report in a calm and thorough fashion and see how it is likely to affect the future of the airfield. Now we have got the decision, it allows us to work on the local development plan, so we can get out to the community later in the year with our vision for the borough.”

[Deleted]

I only just noticed this in one of the above reports.

Answering a question from a member of the public, he told the meeting that there had been 359 royal flights through Farnborough in 2007.

Under the terms of the airport’s licence, such flights do not count towards the 28,000 movement cap

I dont remember there being that many NOTAMS so does that mean that other flights are being classed as Royal? Royal Jet? there's a scam!

[Admin (Annette Andria)]

HI

Its no Scam all Government \royal are not included . this has always been the case Dating
back to Duel EGUF(RAE)-EGLF(civil) Days. What is unclear is do visits from Foreign Mil fall under the Same rules. Notams do people Actually read those i somtimes wonder.

[Buster the Bear]

I am confused! TAG ploughed £millions into Farnborough knowing the planning restrictions that were place in front of them.

Now they decide to demand extra weekend access and get it.

What next, a massive increase in daily movements to combat the Biggin Hill threat?

The only way to ensure TAG's investment is to gain permission for a 24-7 operation which I know the executive market inc the lucrative Mid East, Asia and American markets demand.

Don't get me wrong, if I were TAG I would be doing the same. Fact is, they invested with the planning restrictions, which they now are active in seeking to modify.

If I was a local resident I would not be happy about the 'bullying' tactics being used to gain an excessive profit from what must have been an already sound investment?

Never mind, HM Govt and MP's do what they bl@@dy well like and s@d their constituents!

TAG are very persuasive, thankfully I do not live close enough for the 'out of hours' noise which is likely to increase, to be a problem.

[Admin (Annette Andria)]

There is no out of Hours noise apart from the TRAFFIC In FAB itself . Close as we are the noise i can hear 24/7 is from M3 and A331 its very rare to SMELL avaition spirit in the Area but Diesel
fumes from lorrys and Buses at time is very Bad . where this idea of disruption to life in FAB by Aircraft is nothing Short of NONSENSE.
Let me say this Again NOTHING FLYS IN OR OUT OF FAB AFTER HOURS . In PRE civil Days GLIDING
and RAE fc aircraft flights took place under strict control As civil flying developed very occasional
weekend Carrol aviation delivery the first ever was VR-BOB .After a While gliding ended as did out of hours flying by RAE\DERA Flying club . the club still uses FAB but like all other user must obey the hours law NOTHING in or out after HOURS that also includes Running APU on ground.

[Admin (Annette Andria)]

irport chiefs to look for increase in cap on flights
by Pete Castle.
TAG chief executive Brandon O’Reilly looks out over Farnborough Airport.

TAG chief executive Brandon O’Reilly looks out over Farnborough Airport.



Farnborough Airport bosses are planning a campaign to host even more flights after winning approval to double weekend take-offs and landings.

Last week, the government finally announced that TAG Aviation, the company that owns and operates the airport, could increase the number of weekend flights from 2,500 to 5,000 a year.

The decision, made jointly by the secretaries of state for local government, Hazel Blears, and transport, Ruth Kelly, overturns a June 2006 decision by Rushmoor Borough Council to block the move. It took almost two years for the issue to be resolved, involving applications for planning permission, appeals, public inquiries, government U-turns and delays.

The increase in the weekend flight allowance does not affect the total cap on flights at the airport, currently set at 28,000.

This week TAG said that people living around the airport and under its flight path will have a say on future expansion plans by this June in a public consultation.

The results will be used to create a “master plan” for the future of the airport, the company said, to be published later this year or early in 2009.

TAG chief executive Brandon O’Reilly said that the report — written by government-appointed planning inspector Ken Smith after a public inquiry — would form a cornerstone of the company’s future plans for expansion.

“This was an independent inspector who has reviewed our appeal and the report that has been written is totally robust and a fair assessment,” Mr O’Reilly said. “Our case was always that there was unsatisfied demand and that has been accepted by the secretaries of state in their decision and the inspector in the report.

“Through the report there is a particularly strong emphasis that there are very substantial economic benefits brought by the airport.

“That is a very important statement they make, along with the statement that there is no demonstrable harm to the area.

“Great heed is put with the Airports White Paper of 2003 and 2006 saying that the best use of existing infrastructure should be made.”

The inspector’s report said approving the extra weekend flights would not significantly damage the lives of nearby residents, but Mr O’Reilly added that TAG would still try to reduce noise disturbance wherever it could.

“The airport is a quieter place than it used to be,” the TAG chief executive said. “But we should be mindful that some people are more affected by noise than others.

“Through the quiet flying programme, in agreement with community representatives, we are demonstrating that we take noise very seriously indeed. We should do everything possible to push the boundaries and try to reduce noise further.”

The government’s decision means the consultation on the master plan would begin before the end of June, Mr O’Reilly said.

“We can now move on responsibly to ensure that we can make best use of our infrastructure. We do realise the economic benefits but we will do our best to make sure that there is no demonstrable harm to the surrounding area.

“We are finalising the public consultation document. We will get the feedback from that and see what the community have got to say.”

The master plan should be published in draft form later this year or early in 2009, the TAG boss said.

Mr O’Reilly has said TAG will look to apply for a new planning limit, based on the maximum possible capacity that air safety, runway capacity, air pollution and noise disturbance would allow.

Last week, the News reported that airport consultants NATS had told TAG that Farnborough Airport’s runways could handle a maximum of 100,000 flights a year — three-and-a-half times the present annual cap of 28,000.

Meanwhile, Michael Gove, MP for Surrey Heath — who told the Camberley Mail he was disappointed with the weekend flight decision — suggested that the company might want to consider a contribution to his communities to offset their loss of peace at weekends.

But TAG does not plan to widen its community fund contributions, currently given to Rushmoor Borough Council to administer as part of planning conditions, to other areas such as Surrey Heath or Hart, Mr O’Reilly said.

“It is important to say that there is no loss of amenity to residents,” Mr O’Reilly told the News. “We currently donate money per aircraft movement, but we have no plans to extend the amount of money we put into the community fund.

“But we are going to do a public consultation and we would be interested to hear people’s feedback from that.”

Glenn Morrison, of Potteries Lane, Mytchett, said the decision was inevitable given the amount of vested interest from big businesses and politicians in keeping the airport running.

Mr Morrison, who spoke against the weekend expansion at the inquiry, said that no evidence had been submitted that showed how much the airport contributed to the local economy.

“It is all assumption,” Mr Morrison said. “No-one has been able to say this is how much Farnborough and the surrounding area has got from the airport, therefore balancing the loss of amenity.

“I don’t have a problem with flying — I love flying. But for me, we have just witnessed at close hand that democracy doesn’t work.

“I always thought that democracy will ultimately prevail, but it is dead, as is social justice.

“The basic law of democracy is to find a balance between people’s interests — that seems to have failed in this case.

“TAG has got what it wants, big businesses have got what they want, and despite saying they are disappointed, Rushmoor Borough Council has got what it wants. Everyone has got what they want except local residents, who have got literally nothing.”

Geoff Marks, of the Sycamores, Farnborough, chairman of the Farnborough Airport Residents’ Association, said that people living near the airport would be disturbed during their leisure time at weekends as a result of last week’s decision.

The inspector had failed to take on board the argument that extra noise at weekends had significantly more impact on people’s lives because they were more likely to be enjoying their leisure time relaxing at home, he said.

“The most disappointing thing about the inspector’s report is that he has been quite dismissive regarding our claim that weekend noise is particularly intrusive,” Mr Marks said.

“Neither does he accept that the visual impact of aircraft in the take-off or landing phase is a key issue.”

Mr Marks added that a legal agreement should be put in place to give residents certainty that the airport could not expand beyond an agreed limit.

“A lesson we must learn from this decision is that planning conditions can be easily overturned,” he said.

“When it comes to the determination of TAG’s application for an overall increase, which is not too far away, we should try to put a stop to creeping growth by incorporating any new limits in a legal agreement.

“We would then remove the awful uncertainty as to what the future could hold, and so enable people to plan their futures accordingly.”

James Page, a Green Party activist, who works at Nokia in Farnborough, said the decision was “depressing” and showed the government was not serious on tackling climate change.

The report showed how increasing weekend flights would accelerate the amount of carbon emissions from aviation, he said.

“The inspector shows how increasing the number of weekend flights would mean the airport reaches its 28,000 limit sooner, and TAG is already champing at the bit to have the overall limit increased,” Mr Page said.

“It sends the message that the rich and famous can fly as much as they like, whenever they like. This is a depressing decision and it doesn’t bode well at all for the [government’s decision on whether to allow a] third runway at Heathrow.

“This was supposed to be a joint decision between the Department for Transport and the Department for Communities and Local Government, but I wonder how much input the Department of the Environment will have had on this.
“This is not joined-up government at all.”

Michael Haxeltine, an amateur dowser who gave evidence for more than an hour at the public inquiry, says the inspector may have “put his reputation on the line” by listening to him.
The 69-year-old from North Camp, who described himself a student of dowsing, geomancy and energy healing, had warned the inspector that “subtle energies” from planes might have a sinister effect on the people below.

Speaking this week, the Reading Road resident was disappointed the secretaries of state had not delayed the TAG decision to look more into his theories, as he requested.

“I said at the time it was not Mickey Mouse science and I still believe that,” he said.

“I would have liked to have seen it taken forward. The inspector had to be a very brave person to put that amount of information into the final report. He may have put his reputation on the line as a result.”

The former gardener plans to conduct his own research into the possible negative implications of the decision.

Representatives in Hart dsitrict were not happy either.
James Radley, a Community Campaign Hart councillor for Church Crookham, said that people would feel their weekends would be disturbed by the extra Saturday and Sunday flights.

He said: “It seems a great shame that the government has ignored a substantial feeling, with 3,000 letters from people who believe it is going to spoil their quality of life.”