Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise

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.

Also see the Wheathampstead campaign web site

4th February