§ 33. Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of complaints from residents in the Ongar parishes of Essex about increasing noise at night and in the early morning from aircraft using Stansted airport; and whether he will take action to reduce it.
§ Mr. CorfieldSeveral prolonged periods of easterly winds and the seasonal increase in air traffic at Stansted, Gatwick and Heathrow may have contributed to an increase in disturbance in the Ongar area, but we have had few complaints about it. I am, however, determined we shall spare no effort in keeping aicraft noise disturbance within bounds.
§ Mr. Biggs-DavisonIs my hon. Friend aware that I have received quite a number of complaints? Does not the distress caused to my constituents and others reinforce the need to put future airports near the coast and also to press on with v.t.o.l. aircraft?
§ Mr. CorfieldMy hon. Friend says that he has had a lot of complaints, but so far as I am aware he has passed only one to the Board of Trade and that is the only one we have received. As to his suggestion about the location of airports, I beg him to look at some of the evidence of noise before he rashly runs into assumptions.