Council: plane stack ‘in the wrong place’
22.05.08
The proposed aircraft holding stack over Huntingdonshire for Luton Airport is in the wrong place, Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) will tell the air traffic control company National Air Traffic Service (NATS) in its response to the current consultation on the plans.
NATS has suggested replacing the current 2 stacks - one for Stansted called Abbot and centred on Sudbury and a joint Stansted / Luton stack over Royston, called Lorel - with 3 new stacks, one of which would see jets encircling parts of south Huntingdonshire and South Cambridgeshire at heights 7,000 - 14,000 feet.
The proposal has upset HDC's cabinet, with Councillor Terry Rogers saying that the NATS proposals as operationally flawed and in the wrong place. He said: ‘If Lorel and Abbott are working well, why not kept them? If they are going to implement a third one, why is there a need to have it over Huntingdonshire? The ideal position would be over Newmarket and south-east Cambridgeshire.’
The cabinet is also concerned that NATS used old maps to formulate its plans, failing to take account of the thousands of new homes being built, including those at Cambourne, Northstowe and in Huntingdon and St Neots.
Council leader Ian Bates said: ‘They have not taken account of population growth, forthcoming environmental issues relating to the EU and quality of life in relation to what noise you are used to. In the rural community, where the noise level is generally much lower than in the town. I want to know where else they considered putting this and why they rejected it. Our response must be robust.’
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