Denham - Court decision

[Heliport]

Norman and Lorna Peires win battle with airfield over roar of helicopters


Flying has been taking place at Denham since the early 1900s.
It has been operated by Bickerton's Aerodromes Ltd since the 1930s and was first licensed by the CAA in 1938.

The whinging owners bought their house in 2006.

[paco]

You have to be some sort of idiot not to realise there may be some noise.

No disrespect, but you must also question the person making the judgment.

Oh well.

Phil

[OvertHawk]

Absurd and a truly disturbing precedent to set. Not only for aviation!

Apparently at least one other house owner nearby has already jumped on the bandwagon

Here's hoping it gets thrown out on appeal.

[Reverserbucket]

Coincidentally, it has been stated in the local press that Lorna Peires undertook some fixed wing lessons at Denham. The principal fixed wing school is managed by the aerodrome owner, although she may not have flown with them.

[Wander00]

So when is someone going to try to shut Heathrow or Gatwick? Did they do no research before they bought the house, did their solicitor make no enquiries - aah there's an idea, sue the solicitor

[fairflyer]

I really hope Denham has the nerve and finances to take this to appeal. An appalling decision and a really bad precedent. It raises the question though about any changes to normal practices at an aerodrome, the re-positioning of say a training area or FATO etc. which results in a change in noise footprint at the periphery of the aerodrome. From time to time, such zones need to move for a number of reasons and if the consequential impact can result in these kinds of legal challenges, then there's a very tricky road ahead.

[SilsoeSid]

So they now have £600,000 in their pocket, doesn't take the noise away though does it!

A high price to have to pay, but at least now the airfield operators/owners can continue as normal, I wonder with all the press coverage, whether there will be a large uptake on helicopter lessons/trial flights

Money ... some haven't enough, others have too much
Hearing ... some haven't enough, others have too much


Interesting to find out if either of them had a hearing test prior to the case, terrible to think that they may be registered as deaf and claiming benefit

[SilsoeSid]

Mmm,
From Mr Peires' Twitter page;

https://mobile.twitter.com/normanpeires

[megan]

Yet I bet these prats will happily use a helicopter to make a grand entrance at a venue of their choice and damn the consequences to any plebs. We're celebrities you know and we've got a status to maintain.

[dsc810]

Seems all quite reasonable.
No she does not get £600K - they operators were order to either cut the racket OR pay.

I'll bet they knew perfectly well that the heli's were going to make a racket and hoped that the locals could be persuaded to shut up on the basis they we have "always been there" and they could not stop them.
The other game in this sort of thing is to start small and when you get no complaints them gradually rack up the amount of disturbance. Eventually someone will complain but then they will have undermined their case by initially accepting the small amount of disturbance in the first place without complaining.
So you need to nail this sort of thing at the very first instance as they have done.

The applicants already stated they had no objection to the fixed wing operations on the site - it was just the b*eeding heli's outside their back yard.
The Judge even went and experienced it for himself - you might have though the numnuts at Denham might have toned it down once they knew the case was progressing!

Good decision and good on the Judge I'd say.

[Wander00]

Does their planning consent allow helicopter operation - hmm, started so long ago probably a Certificate of Lawful Use or whatever it is called. But, on what we know (and I spent a lot of time lurking at Denham as a teenager) I find it hard to believe that these people can march in presumably having checked out the local scene and then whine, and potentially get compensation. Strange times my masters

[megan]

Posted by Pace on another thread

I am amazed at some of these court rulings and feel so sorry for this couple who paid £1.5 million when they bought it I presume with helicopter noise at at a knock down price
Without helicopter noise it's worth £4 million so a tidy little profit in 5 years ?

Get rid of the helicopters you bought it with at a knock down price,then walk out with £600 k compensation plus sell the property at a huge profit once you get rid of the noise

If someone buys a house in a peaceful setting and someone builds a runway at the end of their garden yes they should get compensation!

But those who knowingly buy at a knock down price because the runway and active airport sits at the end of their garden ? In my opinion you knew what you were buying! Maybe they bought when there were no Helicopters but looking at what they paid and what they value it at over five years then it all looks very suspicious

The guy is an entrepreneur, and that means using all means to line your pockets whenever and wherever you see an opening.

Be interesting to know when the house was built. The field has had helos in residence for a long time.

History of Denham Aerodrome

[Heliport]

Originally Posted by dsc810

I'll bet they knew perfectly well that the heli's were going to make a racket and hoped that the locals could be persuaded to shut up on the basis they we have "always been there" and they could not stop them.
The other game in this sort of thing is to start small and when you get no complaints them gradually rack up the amount of disturbance. Eventually someone will complain but then they will have undermined their case by initially accepting the small amount of disturbance in the first place without complaining.
So you need to nail this sort of thing at the very first instance as they have done.

I'm having difficulty understanding how your comments apply to what has happened here.

Helicopter schools are not a new development at Denham.
By the time these owners bought their house, there had been at least one helicopter school there for about 40 years. When Mike Smith owned HeliAir it was one of the busiest, probably the busiest, helicopter schools in the country.

The price of houses adjacent to airfields/airports is always lower, for obvious reasons. The complaining owners would have benefited from that when they bought their house.

I hope the airfield owners appeal.

[CRAZYBROADSWORD]

well if operations are reduced because of this then maybe the operators should take a class action against the couple and the rest of the aviation world refuse to fly them should they ask

[MaxR]

Perhaps if, as stated above, they did chose to arrive somewhere by helicopter, they should be flown there by an untrained pilot. Obviously they wouldn't object to that.

[Geoffersincornwall]

Sad about Denham but as one door closes another one maybe ajar -

Aerohub at Cornwall Airport Newquay UK

Nothing quite like a pastie to set you up for an hour or two of circuits, you will find it difficult to get lost on your NAVEX when your base is located on a peninsular and you will be just 50 minutes away from LGW courtesy of the FLYBE service.

G :-)

[cloudpusher]

Guess you can't get rid of old habits......

Vacondo Defendant Gets 7-year Prison Sentence - tribunedigital-orlandosentinel

Seriously, buying a home next to an airfield and then complain about noise.
Going for easy money if you ask me!

If due to less airfield activity the value of his house goes up, can the airfield and/or operators sue him for a part of that money.....

[megan]

Good find cloudpusher. You get the measure of the man where he is boss of the outfit/criminal endeavor and rats on his underlings in order to get his sentence cut. Proof positive there is no honour among thieves, and you'd never want to do business with this creep. Wonder if the judge knew of his prior?

Under Peires' agreement with prosecutors, he received a shorter sentence for his Vacondo conviction than Cremata or McGrew.

But he agreed to waive his right to appeal his conviction and has agreed to testify against McGrew and Cremata if they are granted new trials by an appeal court.

Peires also pleaded guilty to defrauding investors in an unrelated popcorn franchise investment operation in which he was accused of misappropriating investors' money. He must repay investors $65,000 or Cycmanick will sentence him to an additional two years in prison on that charge.

[rattle]

Bonkers. I learnt to fly rotary at Denham 20 years ago with Heliair. It certainly wasn't a case of start small and see if anybody complains.

One commentator in the local press said he lived near the M25 so could they close it for all but two 15 minute sessions a week too?

The fact that anybody is stupid enough to buy a (cheap) house near noise pollution and then complain is bad enough. To take it to court and win is beyond insane. How is this any different to the hundreds of houses on the North Circular or A40? If anything, their owners would have a better case for increased noise over the years as the roads have become busier.

If Denham can't afford the appeal or do appeal and lose, the floodgates are well and truly open for so many more ridiculous claims.

[dsc810]

Here is the full judgement for your reading and dare I say it eduction on the exact ins and outs of the case.
Peires v Bickerton's Aerodromes Ltd [2016] EWHC 560 (Ch) (17 March 2016)