Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise

News update

Expansion plan consultation delayed

Luton Borough Council has delayed its programme of consultation prior to a formal planning application which would enable the Airport to double its throughput from 9 million passengers in 2010 to 18 million. The consultation should now start on 13th February and will include public exhibitions in village and community halls during February and March (see table at bottom of page)  - the exhibitions originally announced in east Luton and Breachwood Green next week will be rearranged. Full details can be found at the project web site 'futureLuToN:Optimisation'.

Formally, the plan is promoted by London Luton Airport Limited (LLAL) which is wholly owned by Luton Borough Council. London Luton Airport Operations Limited (LLAOL), the commercial enterprise which runs the Airport under a lease from LLAL, appears not to be involved in the Council’s plan.

Luton Councillor Robin Harris, who also doubles as chair of LLAL, said: “We welcome further views to be shared and encourage people to attend their local consultation exhibition and to visit our dedicated website.”

Following this consultation, a planning application is expected in April when objections can be submitted to Luton Borough Council (LBC) prior to its decision as Planning Authority.

Expansion is being heavily sold as a creator of jobs with claims of 6,000 new jobs, 4,000 of them at the Airport. Our analysis, based on LBC’s own jobs figures and methods used by the consultant Halcrow, shows this to be wildly optimistic. With the cost pressures on aviation leading to increasing productivity, we show that it is unlikely that as many as 1,000 new jobs will arise from the expansion proposed.

Our main concerns

LADACAN’s main concern is for the health and safety of people living under the flight paths. Doubling of the Airport’s capacity will require more flights with bigger planes and will make living near the Airport untenable for some people. As details of the plan are released, we will be analysing the implications for the health and well-being of local communities and publishing our findings here.


Location



Venue



Date



Time



East Luton



Raynham Way Community Centre, 66 Eaton Green Road LU2 9JE



Thursday 9th February



13:30-19:00



Breachwood Green



Breachwood Green Village Hall, Chapel Road SG4 8NX



Friday 10th February



14:00-20:00



Luton

Town centre



The Gateway Gallery, The Hat Factory, Bute Street LU1 2EY


Monday 13th February



14:00-20:00



Flamstead



Flamstead Village Hall,

Church Road AL3 8BN



Tuesday 14th February



14:00-20:00



Whitwell



Whitwell New Fellowship Hall, Bendish Lane SG4 8HT



Wednesday 15th February



14:00-20:00



Hitchin



Hitchin Town Hall,

Brand Street SG5 1HX



Friday 17th February



14:00-20:00



Caddington



Heathfield Lower School,

The Green LU1 4HF



Saturday 18th February



10:00-17:00



Leighton Buzzard and Linslade



Linslade Community Hall,

Waterloo Road LU7 2NR



Wednesday 22nd February



14:00-20:00



Dunstable



Dunstable Leisure Centre,

Court Drive LU5 4JD



Thursday 23rd February



14:00-20:00



Harpenden



Southdown Room, Harpenden Public Halls, Southdown Road

AL5 1PD



Saturday 25th February



10:00-17:00



Stevenage



Ellen Terry Room, 2nd Floor, Stevenage Arts & Leisure Centre, Lytton Way SG1 1LZ



Monday 27th February



14:00-20:00



South Luton



Stockwood Discovery Centre, London Road LU1 7HA



Wednesday 29th February



14:00-20:00



Wheathampstead



Wheathampstead Memorial Hall, Marford Road AL4 8AY



Thursday 1st March



14:00-20:00


Also see the Wheathampstead campaign web site

4th February

CANCELLED