LADACAN was established in 1968 at a time when Luton Airport proposed a significant expansion of its operations. LADACAN grew rapidly in response to the increasing noise, attracting huge support from the affected communities all around the airport, and was much involved in various public inquiries into the Airport’s plans in the 1970s.

With the apparent decline of the noise nuisance in the late 1980s and early 1990s, public interest waned for a time but LADACAN activity blossomed again in the late 1990's following the introduction of the "no frills" airlines and the Olney 1L/1B re-routing controversy.

When, in 2002, the Government named Luton as a possible candidate for expansion to meet its expectation of demand for cheap air travel, LADACAN’s membership was again boosted and it mounted a vigourous campaign against the proposals. It made history in 2005 by successfully challenging the White Paper, The Future of Air Transport, in the High Court. The Court removed the White Paper’s support for extending the Luton runway although support for a new, full-length runway to replace the existing runway remains Government policy.

LADACAN maintained its pressure on the Airport operator through the debacle of the draft Master Plan for a dual-runway Airport which was mercifully abandoned in July 2007. Throughout this time, LADACAN has submitted responses to numerous consultations on aviation-related matters and presented evidence to the inquiries held into the Luton Local Plan and the East of England Plan (Regional Spatial Strategy).

LADACAN continues its efforts to ensure that a reasonable balance is struck between the airport operation and the peace and quiet of the area around the airport. Without LADACAN, current airport operations would have been considerably more troublesome than they are presently. Although there are now no plans for expansion beyond the current planning permission (granted in 1997), LADACAN continues to oppose decisions which do not require planning permission but which are likely to further degrade the quality of life of those who live nearby.

LADACAN holds a seat on the Airport Consultative Committee which it uses to influence the airport and local authorities, and to obtain information about the airport's operations. We also work with other groups, both national and local, to share experience and expertise.

LADACAN’s constitution can be found here and the current committee is:

Chairman - Richard Pilkington
Vice-Chairman - Lis Greet
Secretary: Roger Wood
Treasurer - Michael Chamberlin
Airport Consultative Committee Member - John Davis
Committee members - Jonni Heath, Peter Hunt, Keith Green, David Ashton

About LADACAN

Luton & District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise - site updated 03 February, 2010