Representation by Slip End Parish Council (Slip End Parish Council)
- Date submitted
- 22 June 2023
- Submitted by
- Parish councils
To: The Planning Inspectorate Ref: Luton Airport 20th June 2023 Slip End Parish Council (SEPC), a prescribed consultee in terms of this consultation, strongly opposes the plans of London Luton Airport Operations Limited (LLAOL) to expand London Luton Airport, both the short term raising of the passenger cap to 19 MPPA and the long term plans for a second terminal with an increase of passenger numbers to 32 MPPA. In summary our objections (in a far from comprehensive list) include, in no particular order: *Excessive noise (the parish lies less than 3000 feet below both landing and takeoff flight paths). *Inadequate noise monitoring. *An absence of environmental monitoring to the west of the airport. *A limited range of environmental contaminants being monitored. *Concern over the opaque relationship between LLAOL and Luton Borough Council. *Manipulation of air traffic and passenger data sets to raise the ‘baseline’ from 2017 to 2019, to create an inflated ‘normal’ year. The failure of LLAOL to comply with operating targets on night flights and aircraft noise. *A refusal of LLAOL to discuss with the public their plans for the expanded use of wide-body jets on mid-haul routes, with concomitant noise increase. *An increase in opportunist ‘flyparking’ in the village by the public using the airport. *Concern over the economic case for the airport, in particular the costs of cleaning up emissions in the face of rising carbon values. All, of these concerns are explored in greater depth in our correspondence with LLAOL arising from the series of consultations, notably our letters of 9/12/2019, 12/2/2021 and 22/3/2022. We attach here a copy of the March 2022 letter as we have not had an acknowledgement of receipt for it and it is a fundamental statement of the position of the parish. Apologies if you already have it in your documentation. As we note at the end of that letter– the expansion of the airport brings no benefits to the residents of Slip End; and suggest the impact on of the quality of their lives will be considerable. We wholeheartedly oppose the plans put forward. Yours sincerely, Tracey O’Neill Clerk – Slip End Parish Counci