BAA has admitted that more than double the number of people are affected by aircraft noise from Heathrow than it previously estimated, campaigners have claimed. The air operator launched a 16-week consultation for its noise action plan this week, in which it said 725,500 residents were bothered by the sound of planes.

Campaign group Hacan, which is opposed to Heathrow expansion, said BAA and the Government previously averaged out noise across a 16-hour day, which found that 258,500 people lived inside the 57-decibel contour. But the EU now requires separate measurements for day, evening and night, which are combined to get the average over a 24-hour period.

John Stewart, chairman of Hacan, said: "At long last BAA has been forced to creep into the real world and admit many more than 300,000 people are affected by aircraft noise. But even this is an underestimate. The World Health Organisation estimates more than a million people are affected."

BAA has invited communities to give feedback on how it plans to manage the impact of aircraft noise between 2010 and 2015.

BAA will hold three public sessions at the Heathrow Academy, in Newall Road, off the Northern Perimeter Road, on Monday, July 6, between 11am and 2pm, on Monday, August 3, between 2pm and 5pm, and on Wednesday, September 2, between 5pm and 10pm.

Residents wishing to take part in the consultation will also be able to access copies of the action plan and a questionnaire for feedback online or by calling the Heathrow community relations team on 020 8745 5791.

Read the full article in Your Local Guardian.


This "Noise Action Plan" is proudly brought to you by the company that invented the fantasy green jumbo and amended data to show an anticipated 230,000 extra flights a year at Heathrow would have a minimal impact on noise and pollution levels.

So do you really think that they're interested in what Joe Public has to say? Or do you think they might want to get a little bit of feedback and manipulate it for their own ends?

By all means read the claptrap and go to the public sessions. But just remember who's doing the talking and where the vested interests lie.