§ Baroness Hamweeasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the powers for local authorities to promote and improve the well-being of their area contained in the Local Government Bill will, when enacted, enable local authorities to take steps to enforce controls on aircraft noise connected with airports in their area; and, if not, why not. [HL1600]
§ Lord Macdonald of TradestonThe powers proposed in the Local Government Bill to enable local authorities to promote and improve the well-being of their area do not include new powers to regulate aviation activities.
The Government's White Paper, A New Deal for Transport, announced proposals to improve the mitigation of aircraft noise. This includes a proposal that the Secretary of State would have powers to compel an aerodrome (where it appears that voluntary measures are not working) to prepare a noise amelioration scheme, and to agree it with the appropriate local authority. That authority would then have the power to require enforcement of a scheme if for some reason the aerodrome was not doing so satisfactorily.
We shall be issuing a consultation paper on our proposals shortly.