Representation by Nicholas Blythe
- Date submitted
- 28 October 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
We have been living in Penshurst for the last twenty two years, and have suffered for all that time with air craft noise. We have made complaints in the past. I have attended public meetings and completed previous consultations and surveys. Over the years the most serious noise problems have been: a) air craft whine - this has caused considerable stress to our family, and is made worse by knowing that it is completely avoidable. ? b) night time noise - I am astonished that Gatwick is continued to be allowed have night time flights. ? c) low level flying, which I also understand is completely avoidable, and the random nature of which is at times alarming as it looks like pilot error; on occasions we have rushed out of the house fully expecting to see a plane to plough into the hillside above our house, being so unusually low is its level of approach. d) lack of fanning of flight paths, again completely avoidable.? I would also go so far as to say that the noise has certainly caused ill health through stress, loss of sleep, and particularly in the summer of being under aerial attack. If we wanted a noisy environment we would live in a town. The fact that we choose to live in an isolated, rural location is because we have elected to trade the bustle and convenience of town life (access to schools, shops, public transport, roads without potholes, street lighting, broadband, mobile phone signal, etc.) for the peace and tranquility of a rural life. Except that it is neither peaceful nor tranquil. Further, living in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), the rural character is meant to be protected - I note that one of the primary purposes of the AONB designation is to ?meet the need for quiet enjoyment of the countryside?. Living in an AONB comes with the cost not only of increased house prices but also of even less good rural broadband, mobile phone signal, and so on. Except that the ?quiet enjoyment of the countryside? is not being protected. It is plainly inappropriate that so much effort is put into protecting some aspects such as the visual character of the AONB, with somewhat draconian limits of things like house extensions, yet seemingly little has been done to protect the ?quit enjoyment?. By this definition, aircraft should be routed so that they do not fly through the AONB at all?