NOTES OF THE WENDOVER CONSULTATIVE MEETING

held in The Library Room, Wendover on 17 September 2004

commencing at 7.00pm and ending at 9.15pm

PRESENT: Tom Ross (Chairman)

David Lidington, MP, Cllr Richard Gridley (Chairman, WPC)

Cllr Mrs M Clayton (BCC), Cllr Mrs Judith Myers (AVDC),

Cllr Stephen Worth (WPC), Cllr Bill Chapple, Mr Ray (CHASE),

Mr Lapthorne (CHASE), Prof Howard (CHASE)

Mr Wilding (Halton Lane Neighbourhood Watch),

Group Cpt Murray (RAF Halton), Wing Cdr Flynn (RAF Halton),

Mr P Hopper (MoD). Wing Cdr Roberts (RAF)

Mr Leake (Wendover Society), Mrs Birchley and Dr Garrod.

Clerk: Ann Hooton

1.  APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Blundell (Halton Parish Council).

2.  CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION

     The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, commenting that the aim was to gather differing interests together to talk over the serious problem caused by the increased flying activities at RAF Halton. He expressed the hope that the discussion would be facts based rather than emotive. David Lidington, MP commented that he hoped the meeting would result in some agreement on the facts as he had previously had to deal with conflicting information.

3.  CHOICE OF AIRFIELD

     Considerable discussion ensued over why Halton was preferred to Little Rissington.

     Mrs Birchley commented that antiquated tugs are releasing gliders. RAF Halton stated that this was not so. In aviation terms, the tugs are not antiquated.

     CHASE queried why Halton was chosen when Little Rissington was a larger airfield and in a more remote setting. Peter Hopper stated that it was done on financial grounds only and acknowledged that Little Rissington provided a better site. Although the move to Halton will prove to be more expensive in the long term, the cost will be spread over a number of years, unlike the Little Rissington site which would require a large capital investment during the first year. The MoD was unable to afford the costs of providing hangars and equipment.

     CHASE believed that consultation had been carried out with Little Rissington residents. Peter Hopper said this was not so; the community had been alerted due to the planning application for a new hangar. The decision to use Halton airfield was unable to be taken by the Minister until the grant from the Nuffield Trust was confirmed. The MoD has no duty to consult.

     Peter Hopper confirmed that the Defence Estates is responsible for the future safeguard of the airfield and that there was no more funding for improving the grass or further expansion.

     Concern was expressed over the safety of operations at the airfield. The Station Commander assured everyone that there was nothing inherently unsafe about activities at the airfield.

     CONCLUSION: David Lidington rounded up the discussion and agreed to contact the Minister to ask for a coherent explanation for:

a)      why Little Rissington was not selected to take the traffic moved from RAF Bicester

b)      the financial case for selecting Halton

and to ask if the local opposition to the transfer to Little Rissington influenced the decision or objective judgement.

4.  CURRENT SITUATION

A video was shown, demonstrating the sonic frequency of the noise on a typical day. Those present were also supplied with the results of a questionnaire carried out by the Parish Council.

Complaints were received about:

·         the accuracy of flight paths as circuits do not apply to tugs

·         late flights (Station Cdr confirmed that tug flights have now been told to finish at 5pm)

·         noise in Wendover

·         lack of consultation

David Lidington assessed that there are two limbs to the argument.

a)  Action at a local level regarding circuits, frequency and timing of flights to accommodate a certain number of courses.

b) MoD action by relocation or the use of winches rather than tugs.

a) Local level: The Station Commander informed the meeting that, once the RAF was aware of problems, 22 measures had been taken to improve the situation. He felt that most people wished to ameliorate the noise and RAF Halton had done as much as can be done locally.

Richard Lapthorne advised that the noise survey to be carried out by AVDC must not consider decibel levels in isolation but also the wave length and frequency. The nature of the sound is what causes human discomfort. He believed that AVDC is not qualified to carry out such an assessment.

b) MoD Action: Wing Cdr Owen Roberts explained that the use of winches would involve

·         3 days of the course taken for a student to learn to fly a launch via the winch

·         only solo glider pilot students being able to take part which would lessen the opportunity to develop team work abilities

·         a 3 man team to operate the launch. There is a moratorium on the creation of new uniformed posts and it would be difficult to find civilians to take up the work due to low pay scales

·         reducing the gliding time by 50% thus doubling number of launches

·         limiting altitude by 1,000ft. Height is needed to practise stalls and spins and a reduction in height would not meet the objects of the course.

·         Topography limits winch launches due to reliance on wind direction

·         restricting gliding to local area

Mr Wilding, the Halton Lane representative, argued that

·         it does not take 3 days to learn to fly via a winch

·         winch launches create more, not less, opportunities for team work

·         the double cable winch was capable of 20 launches an hour compared with 6 - 7 tug launches

·         winch launches are less costly than tug launches

·         winch launched flights can achieve equal flight duration from any direction, compared with tug launches.

5.  SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS THE CURRENT SITUATION

Richard Lapthorne asked why recreational flying could not be stopped.

Gp Capt Murray explained that there were 3 types of flying activity currently taking place;

a) Publicly funded JSAT(G) which is available only to service men

b) RAF Flying & Gliding Association for service men which is not publicly funded

c) Private clubs which serve mainly service men from Halton and elsewhere. The majority of members must be service men. He was asked to provide information on the membership of the club.

Richard Gridley queried whether the repetitive nature of the Grobs could be ameliorated by low noise propellers and exhaust bafflers.  Wing Cdr Flynn explained that the whole fleet (65 Grobs) has to share the same specification; the cost of upgrading the propellers would be prohibitive and the provision of exhaust bafflers would require that the machines would have to go back to the manufacturers. The lack of funding is the whole issue and this is a decision which can only be taken at a higher level.

6.  SAFETY

     Concern was expressed over the height of aircraft carrying out engine failure practices over housing. Wing Cdr Flynn agreed to pursue this as the safety requirement is for these manœuvres to be carried out over fields. CHASE stressed that proper flying restrictions must be adhered to because of the built up nature of the village.

     Tony Ray brought up 3 concerns:

·         He maintained that no safety audit had been carried out to mitigate risk. This was refuted by RAF Halton as a survey had been carried out.

·         Safety issues with cables. Wing Cdr Flynn explained that the retractable cables will be further investigated as part of the winter maintenance.

·         Cables at low levels

7.  CLOSURE OF MEETING

Bill Chapple thanked Tom Ross for chairing the meeting and Marion Clayton and the Parish Council for calling the meeting. Thanks were also given to Peter Hopper, Wing Cdr Roberts and David Lidington for attending.

Marion Clayton thanked the RAF for giving their time and felt that the meeting had clarified the confusion, if not the issues. She believed that the only solution will be for the MoD to change its decision. She stressed the need for local residents to work with the RAF.

There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.15pm.

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