Plans for Redhill

[Pogs]

Hi,

I'm not anti-aviation (how can I be as I have a share in a plane?) but I really think that the prospective plan for Redhill is completely potty. It will impact me as a local resident to Redhill Aerodrome, as a pilot that flies from Redhill and may impact GA pilots in the area. Oh, by the way, I bought my house knowing that it was on the north west corner of the circuit – I may be mad but I like to see the planes!

For all local residents there will undoubted be an increase in the noise levels. At present in the Redhill / Reigate area we get noise from a number of east bound aircraft from LHR and from LGW for aircraft requiring reciprocal headings when the wind doesn’t favour a straight out departure (makes sense?). So it is a cumulative effect that must be considered. I have a sneaking suspicion that light aircraft make less noise than a fully laden 747 pounding its way to New York or to Changi from LHR. Can anyone confirm or deny?

I would imagine that local pilots will be encouraged to move their planes to other aerodromes. For the 12 years that I’ve held a licence I’ve flown from Redhill, but I doubt that will count for anything.

For you chaps not affected by the immediate plans may I respectfully suggest that you take a look at your South East charts, particularly at Redhill. There is a corridor about 5 miles wide between the Gatwick & Heathrow zones. What impact will London Redhill have upon the airspace? Will the gap between the 2 zones be reduced or even closed? Suppose you want to go from White Waltham to have a cup of tea at Headcorn - will you have to route via Haywards Heath?

I know that there will always be winners & losers with this type of problem and that somebody somewhere is going to have to put up with increased noise & disruption. Perhaps I going through my mid life crisis (I’ll be 40 in a few weeks time) but I consider that we have “lost the plot” and instead of concentrating on life quality we look for life quantity.

Rant over.

[Andrew Sinclair]

Hello Pogs,

I fly from Redhill and have been following the submission of this plan since December 2002. Last Saturday Mole Valley District Councillors were out on the streets of my home town of Dorking asking for views of the different plans that had been submitted. The government have issued a consultation document and there are various different plans that are being considered.

I specifically asked one of the councillors about the Redhill plan, more details of which can be found here (http://www.londonredhill.com/). The councillor concerned stated that, whilst a plan was submitted by Redhill Aerodrome Limited, it had not been included in the consultation document and as far as he was aware no further discussion has taken place within the Department of Transport on this option. He felt that the likelihood of this plan moving forward was zero.

Hope this information helps.

[Timothy]

Quite apart from anything else I would have thought that the railway line and Motorway completely preclude any development, and the SIDs and STARs would be impossible in between LHR and LGW.

No, I think that this is a non-starter.

London Biggin-Hill, on the other hand..... :(

W

[Miserlou]

I always liked the Keep Redhill Airfield Green campaign posters when coming to Redhill.

Made you feel that the locals wanted you there!

You'd better get onto the KRAG comittee!

[airvicemarshal100]

I have had a look at the plans for Redhill, and the documents they have published. I can see nothing there that is impossible, and nearly all of it is easy. Whether or not it should happen is another matter, and we all have views about that. (For us in the region, a lot of what has been said in the Surrey Mirror about it is complete rubbish, but then we expect that. Most of it seems to be fed to it by KRAG, which believes in embellishing its story.)

Don't forget that our clubs and schools depend on training income from people who want to fly with airlines eventually. Airlines need airports; as private pilots we should not react against airport development. The UK has a shortage, especially in the SE and nothing is likely to reduce that until 2018 if we wait for the Government.

[Keef]

2018?

In my line, I shouldn't be cynical (but I am). No politician that I know of plans for anything beyond winning at the next election.

Only statesmen plan for the long-term, and we have none of those right now (as far as I can tell).

Airports are long-term things. Building houses on airports is a short-term thing.

I agree 110% that we need to preserve the airfields we have (because there aren't many suitable places to build new ones, and my Boss isn't making new land any more).

So join AOPA and/or GAAC and/or A4A and see if you can make a difference.

[Flyin'Dutch']

HI

I am not conversant with the plans for Redhill but by being around a bit we know that:

Stansted, Luton, Heathrow, Birmingham are all in the market for extra runway capacity for the big stuff.

Oxford, Cambridge, Biggin are all marketing for business traffic.

Am sure that Manston and Lydd would jump at the chance of growing and attracting business.

Am sure that there will be an upturn in traffic again once we hit the next growth spurt. But even allowing for that I can not see the need/logic for a further development at Redhill.

Probably missing something.

FD

[rustle]

Probably missing something

Rapid-rail-transit Gatwick/London easily expanded to include Redhill

M23 able to take additional buses ex-Redhill and/or shuttle to Gatwick for connections

Gatwick 2nd runway not allowed until 2XXX therefore use "existing" capacity at Redhill instead (I don't think that was excluded in the Gatwick expansion embargo)

All these "benefits" to johnny-holidayer without spending squillions of public pounds on roads/rail-links etc...

But I probably missed something too :)

[airvicemarshal100]

So far as I can tell, the whole point of Redhill is that 2018 date for the first additional runway other than Redhill, which could be up and running by 2010.

By 2018 most airlines will have decided not to bother with London at all; all three airports are becoming congested now, let alone after aniother 15 years.