§ 20. Mr. Allasonasked the President of the Board of Trade what restrictions he intends to place upon aircraft movement at Luton Airport, in view of the introduction there of jet aircraft.
§ Mr. J. P. W. MallalieuThe hon. Member is, I understand, concerned with restrictions to reduce noise disturbance. In my view this is a matter for the airport owners, Luton Corporation, who are best placed to decide what restrictions are necessary.
§ Mr. AllasonIf the owners do not take action, and appalling noise results, particularly noise at night, would it not be the duty of the Government to inter- 1360 fere, because people must be protected, as they have been protected at Heathrow?
§ Mr. MallalieuI fully agree that people must be protected, but this is a corporation of elected representatives. They are right on the spot and I think that they will watch the interests of their own people.
§ Mr. Gwilym RobertsCan my hon. Friend say whether he has approached the Luton Corporation in order to find out how many complaints it has had on this matter?
§ Mr. MallalieuWe have been in fairly regular touch with Luton Corporation about ways and means of cutting down noise. We gave advice about routing and so forth, but we have not been in touch on this specific point.