Clause 1 - Aerodrome charges: noise and emissions
Civil Aviation Bill
10:45 am
Karen Buck (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Regent's Park and Kensington North, Labour)
I was just about to come to that point. My answer is the same as my response to the entire argument, which is that there are enormous differences in airports and aerodromes and therefore a single formula is not likely to catch what is required by those living near airports. It is true that an individual may be affected by the same level of noise whether they are living in Manchester, London or anywhere else in the country, but a contour—a profile of noise in a particular area—will have a very different impact on different communities, depending on levels of population density and where the aircraft fly from. That is why a single formula is unlikely to work.
The Government's policy—that of this Government, and also previous Governments—has been that the local issue of the environmental impact of an airport should be resolved locally where possible. I remind the hon. Gentleman—and the hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening) who raised similar points—that a previous Minister for Aviation, following a consultation on control of aircraft noise, said in 1991:
''The responses generally to the consultation supported the principle that aerodromes should be locally accountable. I am taking various steps to reinforce this approach, building on the existing mainly voluntary system of control at most airports.''
He continued:
''It is far better for aerodromes to adopt and enforce effective noise measures themselves and to be accountable for local people voluntarily about what they are doing.''
That was the previous Government's approach, and there was consistency in terms of this requirement for local, and therefore locally variable, conditions to be established.