§ Mr. Spellerasked the Secretary of State for Defence, in the light of the return of the Royal Air Force to the Chivenor station in North Devon, whether he will allow a limited amount of civil air traffic in order to help an area poorly served with road and rail communication.
§ Mr. PattieIt is our policy to encourage the civil use of defence facilities, provided that this is consistent with defence requirements. It is too early to say whether civil flying will be possible at Chivenor once the station is fully engaged in flying training from late 1981. Such flying cannot, unfortunately, be allowed while the station is working up.
§ Mr. Spellerasked the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to limit low flying from Royal Air Force Chivenor to areas away from towns and villages.
§ Mr. PattieThe low-flying regulations already require aircraft to keep clear of built-up areas when possible although it is not always practical for the pilots to 331W make the sharp changes in direction that would be needed to avoid every small town and village.