§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what was the number of Tornado movements in and out of Royal Air Force Cottesmore during the noise survey period in September 1983; and what were the average novement figures for the two weeks on either side of the survey;
(2) on what date or dates in September 1983 staff from his Department took noise readings in the vicinity of RAF Cottesmore; how many staff were involved; how many actual readings were taken; and in which specific villages around the perimeter of the base the readings were carried out;
(3) what the highest decibel level recorded in his Department's noise survey at RAF Cottesmore in September 1983 in each of the surrounding villages which were visited by his Department's investigators.
§ Mr. LeeIn view of the highly technical nature of the information requested, my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces will arrange for my hon. Friend to discuss the matter with the experts concerned.
§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Defence at what point in the movement of a Tornado aircraft during his Department's investigators' noise survey at RAF Cottesmore the recording machine was (a) switched on and (b) switched off.
§ Mr. LeeDuring all my Department's noise surveys of aircraft noise around airfields, the field measurement teams are kept informed of all aircraft movements by radio from a team member situated in the airfield control tower. The measurement teams will commence recording either when informed from the control tower of the commencement of the next movement, or when the sound of the aircraft increases above the background level. The tape recorder is switched off when the sound has dropped to the background level.