1

dan

To be fair, if you were worried about noise you prob wouldn’t have bought a house in the Forest in the first place – esp near the runway.

Night work is going to be the only way they can upgrade the runway and maintain a working airport.

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3

Expat80

Who could have envisaged it?

I can offer years of experience living near an airport and for what it’s worth I pass on that experience from the beginning as I see it…it goes something like this….

So as to accomodate WW11 aircraft a small airstrip was built. Post-WW11 a few light prop planes carrying business types used the strip. Th aircraft used were light ‘prop planes’. They were pleasant to watch while seated on the grass enjoying a locally grown lettuce and tomato sandwhich washed down with a flask of hot tea the scent of cut grass and the sight of primroses, daffodils, daises and hawthorns seeping into ones senses, a background of birdsong making it complete, the aircraft relatively noiseless gliding ‘silently in to land barely a few feet away. What a beautiful world….

Gradually more airfraft came. Larger. Noisier. Carrying more suits.

Ten years ago a new airport CEO well-trained in PR was appointed. A dig here, another there, a ‘need’ here, another there, a photograph or two in the local paper suitably headlined with the propaganda ‘Badly Needed’ and ‘The People Want It’ even though no honest survey had been done, and within five years those in ‘power’ approved for him a large expansion.

Larger aircraft came, louder noise, increased air pollution, bigger roads to move increased traffic with its increased pollution back and forth to the airport. The joy of living gradually lessened. No more tomato and lettuce sandwhiches with flask of hot tea while sitting on the grass plane watching, fewer country ‘scents’ blessing ones senses, less bird-song singing into ones receptive ears. Instead the planes came, and with it the noise of them, the stink of them, the drone of them, the planes, and for what? ‘Commerce’? But what about the people?

Now, five years on, an additional huge expansion of our airport and surrounding roads has been approved ‘to accomodate needed direct trans-atlantic flights to London’. HUGE aircraft now. Huge noise too. huge pollution. And with it even larger roads and bypasses. A far cry from that little dusty WW11 airstrip of years ago. And the PR-talking CEO’s near-future dream of non-stop flights to Asia nears realisation bringing more huge aircraft, increased huge noise, increased huge pollution and with it even larger roads and larger ‘bypasses’ that are already approved. All for what? Commerce? But what about the people?

And thencame….the military. They heard of the expansion and gained approval to open a base at the bigger improved airport. Airforce jet fighter aircraft screamed in. Military helicopters too, permantly based at the airport now, drone noisily and low, around and around over our roof tops day and night with the thump thump,thump of their roter blades teaching young airmen how to fly the things, teaching them how to use electronic equipment, using night vision to pin point our homes envisaging them for training purposes as the enemy I suppose or whatever it is they do just above my rooftop day after day and night after night while I lie in bed with ear-protectors over my ears. And all the while the increased fear of an accident happening in a densely populated residential neighbourhood. And for what? What about the people? Why not put such things in an unpopulated area of which we have plenty?

And what about our driking water? Is the dramically increased pollution coming down into our reservour? Our lungs? Forming a part of our growing childrens insides? Where is it going? It has to go somewhere.

Meanwhile, the visible result is destruction of living conditions for the owners of residences built before the airport expanded….same for those approved during the past ten years…same for those still being built today…same for those who live anywhere near the airport flight paths. Same for all except, perhaps, aircraft enthusiasts who often live far away from airport areas.

Who could have envisioned it? Who could have allowed it to happen? Who could have let it happen?

All the while, apathetic and glued to our television sets we let it happen.

The population could have come out, could have stopped it happening the same way 4000 Guernsey folk stopped the 1993 Belle Greve Bay ‘project’ happening even if it took not 4000 but 40,000, but apathy and the television and those holiday commercials and the sweet talking airport PR man got his way…..

Now, after experiencing the above-mentioned I feel qualified to guarantee with some authority that a so-called ‘upgrade and expansion’ of Guernsey’s airport will – IF ALLOWED TO PROCEED – destroy the living conditions of those living anywhere near the airport as it will for those unfortunate souls who live beneath the flight path of jet aircraft entering and leaving Guernsey’s airspace as it also will in various ways for many if not all residents other than perhaps the commercial sector of Guernsey’s population.

Truth is, many will wish they where somewhere else for Guernsey is a very very small heavily populated piece of land extremely unsuited to large jet aircraft, or jet aircraft of any size, in my opinion.

Gone will be the beautiful days and gorgeous nights of pure mind-settling silence. Gone will be the days of open windows net curtains moving in the breeze. Gone will be the morning intake of fresh air, the sweet scents of nature. Gone will be the bird song as screaming noise from jet aircraft and air pollution caused by jet fuel chases them away.

Some time ago I had the pleasure of re-visiting Guernsey. Enroute I was 13 hours in the air coming, another 11 returning all that time my life out of my personal control trapped as I was inside a narrow metal tube rocketing through space at hundreds of miles per hour breathing stale recirculated air, the roar of the engines pulsating through my brain. I hated every minute of it. Until I reached Stanstead.

There, I stepped aboard an Aurigny flight to Guernsey. What a pleasure what a thrill what a delight it was, flying at reasonable speed with little noise down over southern England over small cloud-puffs the ocean visible beneath them, and across the ocean to come down over the Channel Islands and Guernsey, to land at Le Villiaze in no time at all to, on the verandah of a nearby house a lady waving a greeting at my little yellow Aurigny aircraft as we came in to land, telling me that the minimal noise from my small and comfortable aircraft was bothering no one.

It was an exotic experience.
I had come to a very special place.
I was re-visiting a gem, a diamond, and as I stepped out of the Aurigny aircraft and walked across to the arrivals building I suddenly stopped, for just a few moments and I listened to the silence. I smelled the clean fresh sea air. I thought of lettuce and tomato sandwhiches and that flask of hot tea.

It was good to be back. So good.
I felt blessed.

And so I say by all means renew the airport runway surfaces. Make it safe. Make it efficient. But if I, in any way, were permitted to make the decision, I would never, ever, allow any airport expansion to take place at Guernsey Airport for I know that by doing so I would be setting the stage for the destruction of all that is precious…all that I already have.

And I wouldn’t let any PR talking son-of-an-airport CEO convince me otherwise. I guarantee it.
Mike

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5

Paul

Expat80
I think you need to take lots of Prozak!

If you feel that the little yellow planes are quiet then I’d suggest having your ears checked. Some have misplaced feelings for these planes. They are nothing more than a Citroen 2CV of the skies. They rattle, scream and vibrate like crazy. The reality is a whisper jet is a lot quieter, faster and most certainly more comfortable!

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