Minutes Meeting of Noise & Track Sub Committee Wednesday 12th March 2014 Attendees Mr M Routledge Mr D Charles Mr S Hobbs Mr A Lambourne Mrs K Goodman Mr T Lee James Dontas Mr M Nidd Cllr A Pawle Mr R Hiscock Ms W Rousell Cllr C Pole Mrs G Clark Ms C Danby Cllr M Muir Cllr Mrs H Killen David Godfrey Mr N Thompson Cllr D Williams 1. LLACC Chairman Bickerdike Allen Partners DHL LADACAN (substitute) LLAOL (Airfield Environment Officer) LLACC - Airline Operator LLAOL – Airline Service Delivery Manager LLATVCC St Albans County Council Aylesbury Vale District Council Luton Borough Council Aylesbury Vale District Council (substitute) NATS Luton Stevenage Borough Council North Hertfordshire District Council Hertfordshire Association of Parish & Town Councils PAIN (substitute) LLAOL (Ops Director) Hertfordshire County Council Apologies for absence and substitution Miss T Beadman Cllr D Bowater Cllr Sir B Stanier Mr J Davis Mr M Nahvi Mr G Twiss LLAOL (Environment Manager) Central Bedfordshire County Council Aylesbury Vale District Council (substituted by Cllr Pole) LADACAN (substituted by Mr A Lambourne) Central Bedfordshire Council PAIN (substituted by David Godfrey) Action th 2. 2.1 Minutes of the last Meeting and Matters Arising 18 December WR advised members regarding Manouchehr Nahvi and members wished him a speedy recovery. 2.2 The minutes of the 18th December meeting were agreed subjected to the changes as listed. Cllr D Williams advised that he attended the December meeting Item 3 should read July to September as opposed to April to June. 2.3 AMR 2012 - The Chairman informed that he had written to LBC expressing concern raised by the committee on the delay in issuing the 2012 AMR. It was noted that the AMR had been published in February. LLAOL and LBC advised that the 2013 AMR was currently being progressed and should be ready for publication by late May. 2.4 Item 6.1 - Details regarding the number of passengers on business jets was discussed and it was suggested that additional tables could be included within the AMR. LLAOL advised that this information could be incorporated into the AMR and that the 2014 AMR is expected to be significantly different from its current format if the planning application is approved. 2.5 Item 5.2 - LLAOL informed that they had brought in additional expertise to finalise the formal consultation. 2.6 Discussion ensued regarding the Airport procedure for dealing with aircraft that deviated from the NPR without being instructed. LLAOL advised that the airline were contacted but not fined although this is likely to change in the future. 3.0 3.1 LLAOL Quarterly Environment Report October to December 2013 Members were reminded that the report covered from October to December 2013 3.2 Total movements and total passengers both increased by 2%. 3.3 Westerly movements were higher than average for the period. 3.4 The total movements in the night period 23.00 to 07.00 were 2% more than those for the same period the previous year and the early morning 06.00 to 07.00 movements were 3% less than those in the same period the previous year. 3.5 CDA compliance for the period was 86% for all arrivals. It was noted that the proposed RNav arrival route will include a CDA as part of the process. 3.6 Noise monitoring results highlighted that the majority of departures produced noise level in the 70 to 76 dB(A), departures above 79dB(A) were less than one a day and similarly only one at night was above 76 dB(A). There were no noise violations day or night and the night time contour areas had decreased slightly. 3.7 The number of complaints for the quarter was down from 182 to 160 when comparing to the same quarter the previous year and complainants were slightly up from 89 to 92 respectively. There were 29 new complainants in the period. 3.8 The committee noted that the majority of complaints were due to westerly departures and questioned the location of the complainants and questioned if the complaints came from North Hertfordshire LLAOL advised that the majority were from locations such as Luton. 3.9 It was noted that some westerly departures had, after their initial turn to the southwest, continued on a straight path toward Bovingdon. NATS advised that this was a standard off airway route for positioning flights and had been LLAOL LBC LLAOL used more recently with diverted flights from Heathrow. LLAOL agreed to include a note regarding positioning in the next Quarterly Report 3.10 LLAOL disseminated the complaints analysis for Eaton Bray/Eldesborough as requested at the last LLACC meeting in January. 4.0 Planning Conditions Attached to the recent Application 4.1 LBC updated the Committee on the status of the application following the planning committee meeting on 20th December 213. LBC informed that they had written to the National Planning Casework Unit prior to Christmas and are awaiting a response. LLAOL It was noted that if it is decided that LBC are free to decide the application they would need to finalise the Section 106 Agreement with LLAOL. 4.2 The Committee reviewed some of the potential planning conditions and discussion ensured in particular to Nos. 10 to 14 under the heading of Control Over Operations, Noise and Ground Noise. It was identified that there that there was a need for a definition of a commercial passenger. It was also questioned whether the proposed condition 11 f) (i) which limits movements in the night quota period would allow significantly more activity than forecasted at the time of the application. 4.3 Condition 11i) Noise Violation Limits, concerns were raised regarding the potential implications of lack of incentives and possible reduction in noise levels at the monitors which could lead to increased levels elsewhere. The Chairman agreed to draft a letter to LBC and LLAOL outlining their concerns and expressing the committees view for discussion 5.0 Any other Business 5.1 Following the paper by LADACAN presented at the previous meeting, which noted a change in departure procedure used by Wizz from NADP1 to NADP2, LLAOL informed that they had been in contact with all the airlines. EasyJet responded with the most detail and their view was discussed: EasyJet informed they used NADP 2 procedure and in their opinion was the most fuel efficient and safer procedure. EasyJet suggested that the differences between NADP 1 and 2 did not produce a real difference to the noise profile but advised that they would investigate further and report back. 5.2 Lufthansa Airbus Aircraft Noise Reduction Modification - Following the previous discussion where the noise reduction modification being made by Lufthansa to some of their Airbus aircraft was raised, LLAOL advised that they had contacted the airlines about the potential for its introduction. The most comprehensive response was once again from EasyJet as follows: Airbus has yet to produce a retrofit modification for A320 operators. If and when such a modification is available EasyJet will be pleased to make an evaluation. Meanwhile, we can confirm that all new aircraft delivered to EasyJet from May 2014 will have had a suitable modification to the relevant area of the Chairman easyJet aircraft which is intended to reduce the noise produced by the A320. As we have around 150 aircraft on order, the majority of which will replace aircraft currently in our fleet, this should progressively reduce the noise levels of EasyJet aircraft around the airports we operate to. 6.0 Date of Next Meeting 4th June at 14.00 House Hilton Garden Inn