I live near Heathrow, have done my entire life. I had no choice, I was born in the borough of Hounslow. My family moved to Heston (not far short 27R) in 1969. Whilst obviously there was already an airport, the volume of aircraft was not as great then as it is now. Yes, we got free double glazing from BAA, and even a new rof. We got these because the airport operators saw the need to give them to us - the roof scheme ewas due to the incredibly high number of houses that were affected by aircraft vortices. I can also rememebr growing up unable to hear the TV on occassion due to aircraft noise, and as for Concorde.....
I am NOT an anti noise protestor, i certainly have no love of HACAN who seem to think that they represent all locals. They don't, in fact they have never asked my opinion on anything! I was a supporter of T5 and I make my living from aviation.
HOWEVER I do take exception to the tone of some peoples postings here...
Secondly,you'd have to be deficient upstairs not to realise that if you move nearby to the world's busiest airport,you'd be in a noisy environment that,like with most things,is bound to expand and develop,so why didn't they think about this before moving there?
Of course - we all took into account economic growth, development in aerospace design etc.... I think not.
i understand that BAA has even installed double glazing for people free of charge near lhr in an effort to satisfy them,and they apparently are involved in many community endeavours like schooling,public projects etc,and yet these people still have the cheek to complain constantly about the noise!
Actually, the community projects are funded by... NOISE FINES
It has, I believe, been proved that children schooled near to the airport are affected by the noise.
Yes, the airport provides employment to a huge number of locals, despite HACANs ridiculous claims over T5 employment. Yes, many people have moved into the area in fairly recent times. Yes, Hounslow surprisingly remains fairly affluent due to the airport
BUT as others have said, can we please keep the debate "friendly" without resorting to slamming the local residents when you don't know how many have lived in the area for generations, and CAN remember when there was less noise from the airport.
As to the chairman of HACAN, i agree that having popped your had up once, you should have the decency to come back and face your critics. i would like to hear your response to the fact that the crane protestors were not even from South East England
Mr Chips
Hoping for some sanity