Cllr Farooq Qureshi

Leyton and Wanstead Parliamentary candidate, Cllr Farooq Qureshi presented a motion to the full council against the increase in aircraft noise pollution over Leyton and Wanstead, which was accepted unanimously.

After the proposed amendments, the contents of the motion are:

This Council recognises residents concerns over the expansion of London City and Heathrow Airports, and believes that the increased number of flights using these airports and the associated noise nuisance and environmental impact is detrimental to Waltham Forest residents. This council welcomes steps already taken by the Leader of the council requesting:

• That the officers respond to the current BAA Heathrow consultation programme Noise Action Plan.
• The Noise Level Assessment Team investigate whether any residents are entitled to the London City Airport(LCA) sound insulation grant scheme.
• That Waltham Forest Council be able to join the LCA consultation committee which at the moment is only open to Barking & Dagenham, Bexley, Greenwich and Tower Hamlets.
• An all party working group be set up so that all parties can come together to tackle this issue.

 Therefore this council requests that the Chief Executive:

Carries out an immediate investigation into the consultation process undertaken in respect of the expansion of London City airport and the flight path changes by the Civil Aviation Authority, the London Borough of Newham or any other party. This investigation will include consideration of:

• Whether or not Waltham Forest council was consulted and if it was, what response was provided by Waltham Forest council and, if no response was provided, why not.

Upon the completion of this investigation, this council requests that the Chief Executive takes appropriate action which should include:

• Writing to the Mayor of Newham, condemning the decision to allow further expansion of London City airport and stressing the negative impact this decision has had on residents of Waltham forest.
• Writing to Mayor of London, condemning plans for a new four runway airport in the Thames Estuary and asking why he supported the expansion of London City airport and what consideration was given to the detrimental impact of the expansion on residents of Waltham forest.
• Writing to the Civil Aviation Authority and NATS to ask what action they took to consult residents of Waltham Faorest on the changes to flight paths and London City expansion.
• Seeking an investigation by the EU commissioner into the expansion of London City Airport and the impact it has had on residents of Waltham Forest and East London.
• Considering the merits of legal action in relation to the expansion of LCA and/or flight path changes.
• Signing up to the 10:10 campaign which aims to tackle climate change by cutting carbon emissions by 10% in 2010. 

This council requests that the Chief Executive reports his findings back to councillors at the earliest opportunity.”

Cllr F Qureshi said: We accepted the Labour amendments because we welcome the cross party consensus on this very important issue. We need to unite and fight against this attack on the environment and the quality of life of our residents.