Press Release Statement
The �Stop the Redlands Plane Campaign� Petition will be discussed at the Council meeting of Swindon Borough Council on 21st September 2004.
Monitoring of the skydiving activity has been undertaken this summer by both the council noise abatement team and local observers.
Previous news release.
NEWS RELEASE
23rd February 2004 from
STOP THE REDLANDS PLANE CAMPAIGN
Nearly 1000 signatories to a petition will learn on Tuesday night whether the Borough Council will support their plea to put an end to the misery caused by a skydiving plane which flies over Covingham, Liden, Nythe and Wanborough.
The petition signatures were gathered by a group of people [1] who came together on discovering a problem in common. At the end of the summer of 2002 and all through the long hot summer of 2003, they found that every weekend, the peace and quiet of their homes and gardens shattered by a small aeroplane taking off from Redlands Farm, Wanborough, sometimes every 20 minutes all through the day. Not only was the noise of the plane taking off creating a huge disturbance but the plane continued to drone loudly as it climbed to the height required for the skydivers to jump, then circulated during jumping. After landing, the whole cycle began again.
Said Mrs. Susan Birley, a member of the group and resident of The Marsh, Wanborough: � It�s not exactly an oasis of calm round here nowadays but we�ve never experienced anything like this. The microlights from the farm are bad enough but the noise from this plane is absolutely appalling. It drones on and on all day, making it miserable for us and our neighbours to relax in our gardens or even in the houses as during such hot weather, of course we�ve had the windows open.�
Lengthy enquiries between suffering residents and the Borough Council have resulted in the group calling for a discontinuance order on the skydiving activity.
�We discovered that this is the only option open to the Council�, continued Mrs. Birley, � as they have no power to control flights or the resultant noise. Approaches to the owner of Redlands Farm have been to little avail. He has his permission and intends to continue with the skydiving, claiming that every effort is made to minimise the noise from the plane. So the only solution is to stop the plane�
�Permanent planning permission was given for this activity on the basis that there had been no complaints during the assessment period, which was cut short in April 2002 instead of continuing until August 2003 as was originally envisaged. We realise that there were no complaints because there was no noise during that time as it seems that there was little or no flying! Yet on this basis, a commercial airfield has come into being only 750 metres from Swindon�s urban area.�
Having been told by planning officers that an overwhelming case would be required for a discontinuance notice, the group set about surveying the nearby residential areas which resulted in a petition of 943 signatures. The petition was presented to the Borough Solicitor who then requested a report from the planning department. This report will be discussed at the Borough�s planning meeting on Tuesday 24th February 2004.
Copyright, 2003. Swindon Plane Campaign.