Some facts regarding London City Airport expansion
Newham Councils Failings On London City Airport Expansion
1. Newham Council failed to contact and notify residents and previous attendees on planning meetings.
2. Newham Council failed to disclose that they are shareholders in AIG, previous owners of London City Airport.
3. Newham Council failed to disclose that they are shareholders in General Electric 50% owners of London City Airport.
4. Newham Council failed to disclose that they are shareholders in Credit Suisse the other 50% owners of London City Airport.
5. Newham Council failed to disclose that the Chairman of Newham Homes is Richard Gooding - Chief Executive of London City Airport. Many properties around the airport are managed and run by Newham Homes giving the Chief Executive of London City Airport access to sensitive information.
6. Newham Council failed to address flights exceeding 69db. At 69db the airport is required by law to buy the properties. How can they buy council properties around the airport? Especially as Richard Gooding Chief Executive of London City Airport would be requesting to buy properties from Richard Gooding Chair of Newham Homes. A massive conflict of interest.
7. Newham Council failed to disclose – under the Freedom of Information Act – how many of the properties consulted on airport expansion are run by Newham Homes and that Richard Gooding of London City Airport may have had undue pressure on.
8. Newham Council failed to disclose that Richard Gooding Chief Executive of London City Airport was on the board on Newham Primary Care Trust giving him access to sensitive health information like asthma readings around London City Airport.
9. Newham Council failed to disclose that Richard Gooding Chief Executive of London City Airport had an unfair advantage over other businesses and residents by having access to Newham Homes and Newham Primary Care Trust. (Richard Gooding remained on Newham Primary Care Trust during planning and consultation but quickly left just before the actual formal meeting in October 08')
10. Newham Council failed to protect tenants. Residents living in Newham Homes are exposed to toxic air levels around the airport. If they complain about noise or air pollution in their home their complaints are overseen by the airports Chief Executive in his role as Chair of Newham Homes.
11. Newham Council failed to receive or substantiate jobs data. At the last expansion, London City Airport promised jobs would go from 1100 to 4000 .In fact they created in the region of 500. Most of these in security and policing which the taxpayer pays for.
12. Newham Council failed to get London City Airport to comply with local employment targets as set out in the Section 106.
13. Newham Council failed to reveal that many jobs from the likes of Cityjet are actually counted in Dublin, are registered in Ireland and employees are paid in Euros. This is not job creation for Newham.
14. Newham Council failed to address that most companies involved with London City Airport , such as land freeholders Civil Aviation Properties Limited are all based in tax free offshore havens like Jersey and contribute little of nothing to Newham or the UK tax system as a whole.
15. Newham Council failed to get a proper layout and report into the Public Safety Zone (Crash Zone).This will expand putting hundreds of people and homes at risk and halting development.
16. Newham Council failed to recommend any enhancement in safety for users of Connaught Bridge which is in the public safety zone.
17. Newham Council failed to get London City Airport to stay within the Section 106 agreement.
18. Newham Council failed to recoup any of the £5.2 million pounds ANNUALLY that the airport gets in policing and security.
19. Newham Council failed to do anything about Councillor Alec Kellaway who holds in excess of £25,000 worth of shares in WPP, owners of PR Company Hill & Knowlton and who was hired by London City Airport to push through expansion. Cllr Kellaway made private submissions to the council in support of expansion.
20. Newham Council failed to address illegal flights outside operating hours.
21. Newham Council failed to get the airport to take noise readings and admits that it has not been done consistently for over 8 years.
22. Newham Council failed to properly consult many boroughs surrounding and affected by the airport.
23. Newham Council failed to give accurate and thorough information to surrounding boroughs when asking them for their views on expansion.
24. Newham Council failed to consult all residents who are actually within London City Airport noise contours.
25. Newham Council failed to consult directly with residents of Greenwich and were forced to do so.
26. Newham Council failed to consult with the Civil Aviation who is responsible for aviation.
27. Newham Council failed to recognise that air quality surrounding the airport is already 50% above acceptable EU levels.
28. Newham Council failed to recognise that noise levels are already in breach of World Health Organisation guidelines.
29. Newham Council had failed to put in place a proper system of complaints so residents could complain.
30. Newham Council failed to monitor London City Airport flights allowing over 20,000 additional flights outside of planning regulations which only allowed 76,000 flights.
31. Newham Council failed to declare they had spent £100 MILLION on offices – Building 1000 - over looking London City Airport runway. The building lay empty for many years failing to attract other interested parties and failing to regenerate the area as claimed.
32. Newham Council failed to do any air quality readings for Building 1000 before or after the purchase putting its entire staff at risk and leaving themselves open to class lawsuits from sick staff.
33. Newham Council failed to address its representative on the London City Airport Consultative Committee, Alec Kellaway, for distributing false, misleading and disingenuous information in the local Royal Docks election.
34. Newham Council failed to recognise that the type of aircraft used is different from a decade ago when residents were offered cheap and poorly installed double glazing. Many Residents were made sign away any rights to reclaim and as the double glazing has worn down over time and the jets got bigger and nosier , residents have become environmental prisoners in their own homes.
35. Newham Council failed do anything about “fuel burn” and plane thrusters being used. That choking, eye watering smell around the area is a combination of chemicals that cause everything from asthma to miscarriage.
36. Newham Council failed to recognise the need for a Public Inquiry even though its newly elected Labour Councillor Steve Brayshaw called for one and questioned the airport remit.
37. Newham Council failed in its duty of care to residents and to recognise the population density surrounding London City Airport.
38. Newham Council failed to recognise the Human Rights of the people surrounding London City Airport and their right to peacefully enjoy their property .The expansion would unfairly interfere with such right contrary to Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human rights...."
1. The numbers of people living under flight paths are higher than ever before, and it's happening all over the UK. The planned increase in the number of flights at London City Airport from 76,000 to 120,000 with more plans for an increase over the next decade will bring in larger nosier planes, create new and larger flight paths and negatively affect 1,000’s more. In London and the South East over a million people now live under a flight path.
2. Even though the aviation industry claim that individual aircraft types are getting quieter the growth in the number of aircraft has off-set any improvement in the noise climate for people under the flight path. Remember London City Airport is built in the most densely populated area in the UK.
3. For each of the next 20 years flight numbers across the UK are predicted to rise between 4% and 6%. The Government expects this will require up to 5 new runways, plus full use of the existing runways at most of the country’s airports.
4. The Aviation Industries contribution to climate change is increasing. World-wide aviation is currently responsible for 3% of the emissions that contribute to climate change but between 6% and 13% in the UK. Aviation is the fast-growing contributor to CO2 emissions in the UK.
5. Current Aircraft activities harm people's health. The body of evidence is growing. Many reports from the USA claim there are higher levels of cancer around airports. Many people under flight paths near airports suffer higher levels of annoyance and stress and, whenever there are late or night flying, sleep deprivation is increased.
6. Noise harms children's education. There are a number of studies carried out around airports, which show that "aircraft noise" can adversely affect our children's education. London City Airport is built 200m from a school in Newham.
7. Aviation's contribution to the economy is overstated. It is not nearly as important to the country's economy as the industry claims. It is only the 26th biggest industry in Britain, half the size of the computer industry, and just a tenth the size of banking and finance.
8. The aviation industry is heavily subsidised. The subsidy comes in a number of forms: the industry doesn't pay the costs of the noise and pollution it causes; it pays no tax on aviation fuel; and it is zero-rated for VAT. London City Airport’s policing bill is paid for by the Tax payer at a cost of up to £5.5 million a year. Therefore the cost to the taxpayer of creating a job in aviation is much higher than in a less heavily subsidised industry.
9. Aviation runs up a deficit on tourism. Air tourism results in a deficit of around £17 billion pounds each year. This is because the amount of money spent abroad by Britons flying out of the UK for leisure and holiday trips exceeds the amount visitors into Britain spend here. London City Airport claims it's a business airport, but it will be flying to Ibiza and Majorca during the summer months.
10. London City Airport Fight The Flights is not opposed to aviation, but it does aim to give a voice to people under the London City Airport flight paths. We campaign alongside national, regional and local pressure groups and lobby local and national politicians and government for an approach to aviation that acknowledges those who suffer because of the growth of Airports in populated areas. Such as London City Airport.
