| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Airplane noise | |
| Posted by: | Elizabeth Balsom | |
| Date/Time: | 23/10/11 09:04:00 |
| Unfortunately I don't find that planes are getting quieter - despite the propaganda from the airline industry telling me they are. Indeed, sometimes I think the planes are getting louder. As they go over my house they seem to make that gear crashing noise you make when you're learning to drive. Willie Walsh's comment in the FT 17/10 that Justine Greening might have a "conflict of interest" as Transport Secretary because her constituency is under the flight path confirms that the airline industry is very well aware that the noise it inflicts is unacceptable. In my small garden you cannot carry on a conversation when the planes are going over. One small example. My "wisteria" gardener was in my back garden (20' X 30') pruning a rose. I went to the kitchen door and shouted "David, don't forget there's a rose at the front". He turned, came towards me and said "Couldn't hear you. A plane was going over." That was a man in his early 50s with no hearing problems, and it's the reality here. I too regret Concorde's demise, but regard it as irrelevant in the noise debate. It only flew over once or twice a day, not every 90 seconds. I don't find Putney's proximity to Heathrow an advantage. I don't have a car, so if I want to get there it's either an expensive cab fare, or public transport which can take 1.5 to 2 hours with many tiring changes between buses and tubes. It always strikes me as one of the bitterest ironies that I put up with so much noise, while getting there by public transport is such an effort. At least in Hammersmith, which also suffers from the noise as I know from my stay in Charing Cross hospital, it's a quick trip on the Piccadilly line. I recall a table in the DfT's 3rd runway consultation document which listed the number of people employed at the airport by borough. Wandsworth did not feature, so there's no advantage in employment terms. As for the impact on house prices. I know people in Barnes who felt the planes made their house difficult to sell. Potential buyers turned at the gate and fled as a plane went over. |