Representation by Anthony William Samson
- Date submitted
- 17 September 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
For many years now, I have been officially complaining about aircraft noise over the rural village of Brenchley. As a consequence, I have a very thick file of papers in relation to the noise and pollution thrust upon us since 05.09.2015. It was on this day when the flight paths were dramatically moved without any warning or consultation! To add insult to injury the authorities denied for many years any such move! Up until this time, Brenchley had always been a very tranquil village in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. I moved with my wife to our present house in the village in 1996 and until 2015 there was no aircraft noise and we lived in an area with an exceedingly low ambient noise. However since this date in 2015, we have been subjected to a busy motorway in the sky, which has completely devastated our health and lives for 20 hours per day. Our MP the Hon Greg Clark has for the last 8 years tried to resolve this situation, but sad to relate all the residents’ complaints and even constructive advice has been ignored and arrogantly dismissed, particularly the priority of broadening the approach and departure swathes to create a fairer and more equitable dispersal. Night flight negotiations have been thwarted and the latest proposal by Gatwick to use the second runway is simply outrageous! For the last 8 years (since 5th September 2015 when flight paths were altered and for the first time aircraft specifically directed in concentrated paths over the tranquil village of Brenchley) the noise and pollution from this "motorway in the sky" over our heads has been simply catastrophic, seriously disturbing our everyday life and causing a high degree of stress and misery. We are both severely suffering from the present noise and pollution directly over our house - this morning for instance, while I have been clearing leaves in the garden, there has been a continuous drone from aircraft, which are flying directly one after another over our house. Yet during the many consultations over the last 8 years, it was agreed that routes would not be 'concentrated' but 'diverging' pathways - this is not happening! In addition, please note that Brenchley is in an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" amongst rolling hills, where aircraft noise echoes around the valleys! Another runway would be double trouble!