BelfastCity

Donaldson calls for Public Inquiry

Where is Brian Ambrose?

Over a week after the rooftop near-disaster incident in East Belfast, there is still no statement from City Airport boss, Brian Ambrose.

The normally not-so-shy and not-so-reticent Mr Ambrose has been noticeable by his absence.

It seems the man who tells us a runway extension won’t mean any risk to health or public safety or more aircraft noise has become strangely quiet.

Let’s remind ourselves of what happened last Sunday afternoon. According to residents in the area an approaching jet lifted 30 slates off a house which came crashing to the ground. It was purely a matter of sheer luck that no one was injured.

Safety is now right at the centre of this debate – namely, how safe is it living in the shadow of this urban airport. And the answer: not safe at all, as we have seen.

Yet, Mr Ambrose tells us safety is his top priority. Tell that to the people who had a lucky escape, and to those who live in fear of a repeat of this type of incident with even more horrendous consequences".

Priority number one seems to be to expand this EU Designated City Airport into a major International Airport, perhaps driven by the fact that the Airport’s new owners, the bank ABN Amro (now owned by RBS, aka us – the taxpayer) paid nearly double (£132.5m) for what it was valued at. So it looks like a runway extension and expansion in passenger numbers, and the number of flights is the only way to claw back on what may at the end of the day turn out to be a very expensive mistake.

Yes, there’s an investigation going on to discover what happened, combined with rebuffs and denials from the City Airport that a plane was involved at all.

But, no, there have been no media interviews from the not normally media-shy Mr Ambrose, CEO of the Airport and no apology from him either.

And certainly no mention of helping out the family whose roof was damaged.

So, it is legitimate to ask where is Brian Ambrose, and why is he maintaining a stubborn silence on the issue? Or is he so embarrassed by this incident that he has decided to keep his head down for a while……… in case there’s a few more slates flying dangerously in his direction?

Plane probe over house roof smash - BBC Northern Ireland [video]

Airport rebuffs low-flying jet claims - UTV [video] 

Empey Calls for ‘No More Airport Expansion’

The leader of one of Northern Ireland’s main political parties has called for a block on any further expansion at the controversial Belfast City Airport.

UUP leader and Minister, Sir Reg Empey, was moved to comment after a claim that slates were ripped off a roof in Parkgate Crescent in East Belfast by a low flying aircraft at the weekend.

It was reported by the BBC that 30 slates were smashed and fell into a number of adjacent gardens on Sunday afternoon.

Local residents, enjoying the exceptionally fine weather, were lucky to escape injury.  Luckily no children were playing in the garden.

However, one resident had just moved from a sun lounger, narrowly missing being injured by the hail of slates. 

Sir Reg said “It was miraculous someone didn’t have their head cut off!”

Katrin Irvine whose roof was damaged heard a “big bang” as the slates were scattered over three gardens.  She was thankful that her six-year-old daughter was playing in another garden at the time.

Resident Vonnine Hanna referring to a number of incidents linked to the airport, said that the airport was “an accident waiting to happen”. 

Speaking on BBC’s Nolan Show, she asked “If someone had been killed, would they have taken notice then?”

East Belfast Assembly Member, Sir Reg, said he felt the airport should not expand any further.

Sir Reg said: "I think there has to be a balance between the local residents and the airport. Continued expansion, in my view, is incompatible with that balance being maintained. I do think it has got to stay more or less where it is and stop expanding”.

A complaint has been made to the airport and the Civil Aviation Authority is awaiting a report from Brian Ambrose and his airport management team.

Cllr Dr John Kyle, who represents the area, has called for “a real major look at the airport”.

The local GP said: “The airport undeniably brings benefits to Belfast but there are environmental issues, safety issues and health issues related to it”.

Campaigner Fiona McKinley said this incident underlined the need to restrict the operations of the airport, and to reject the planning application to extend the runway to allow for thousands more flights.

She said: “On a perfectly calm day, the peace was shattered by this low-flying jet. Why was it flying over East Belfast at all? Where was the so-called ‘bias’ of flying taking off and approaching over the Lough?

“The new Environment Minister, Edwin Poots, must take note of this very serious incident when he decides on the airport’s unwanted and unnecessary application to extend the runway. He needs to think not only about the application, but also about the type of large jets now being allowed to use this City Airport, and how an extended runway would increase their numbers dramatically. 70-80 ton jets taking off and coming in to land over such a built up area as East Belfast cannot be allowed to continue, never mind be allowed to increase.

“The risks to people living under these approaches will be multiplied if the airport and Ryanair get their way. We’ll have literally thousands more large planes skimming over our rooftops, and that cannot be allowed to happen.
“Let the Minister reject this application and allow us to feel safe in our own homes”.

Plane probe over house roof smash - BBC Northern Ireland [video]

Airport rebuffs low-flying jet claims - UTV [video] 

'Safety Must be Paramount' - Empey

The following is a transcript of what Sir Reg Empey MLA had to say on the BBC teatime news on Monday (14/09/09) following the incident in East Belfast.
 
"When I was standing in the street yesterday (Sunday) looking at the aircraft coming in to land, it is quite a frightening experience, apart from the noise.
 
"And we could be talking today about youngsters who'd been killed or seriously injured because they had a narrow escape.....
 
"I'm for the airport. It's a great employer. It's a good institution. But we have to recognise that it is not capable of just developing willy-nilly. There are local people there and their safety is paramount".

Plane probe over house roof smash - BBC Northern Ireland [video]

Airport rebuffs low-flying jet claims - UTV [video] 

A consultant employed by Belfast City Airport has strongly hinted at the airport’s real gameplan – to become Northern Ireland’s second international airport.

Writing in the ‘Belfast Telegraph’, Gordon Bevan, from Manchester-based consultants, ASM, opened up the vista of round-the-clock operations on long-haul and freight services.

For the sake of clarity, this is what the airport’s ‘hired gun’ had to say:

“At present, Belfast International has a monopoly on long-haul charter operations, air-freight operations, long-haul scheduled operations and medium-haul charter services. Competition only takes place on domestic and near-Europe sectors.

“Preventing Belfast City’s proposed runway extension is merely going to restrict choice and competition. That’s good news for those who dominate current services, but not for consumers”.

There it is – the cat is definitely out of the bag!

This is why this planning application was lodged to extend the runway.

And this is precisely why it needs to be vehemently opposed!

Noise consultants employed by the Government have advised Belfast City Airport that it must embark on a multi-million pound noise insulation scheme covering 700 homes.

Belfast City Airport Watch say that this vindicates what they’ve been saying all along about noise pollution and the need for proper protection.

In the detailed report commissioned by the Department of the Environment, specialists, Bureau Veritas, recommend a sound insulation scheme covering all residential properties that fall within the 60 decibel level.

That means 700 properties in all, covering a total of 1,442 people.

The Consumer Council has thrown its weight behind calls for a Public Inquiry into the planning application to extend the runway at the City Airport.

In a detailed and damning critique, the Consumer watchdog body rejected the arguments made by the airport, saying it hadn’t seen “any convincing evidence” to back up what it said about an expansion of the route network.

The letter, signed by the Consumer Council Interim Chief Executive, Donna Magee, was sent to the Divisional Planning Manager of the Strategic Projects Team, John Cummins.

Ms Magee didn’t pull her punches.

She described as “disappointing” the failure of the Planning Service to consult the Consumer Council, but that shortcoming didn’t prevent the Council from tearing the airport’s case to shreds.

Ms Magee said: “The Consumer Council is keen to ensure development at any of our local airports is conducted with the long-term sustainability of the Northern Ireland aviation sector in mind.

“GGBCA has asserted that an extension of its runway would enable airlines operating from the airport to offer new European routes to customers.

“The Consumer Council is fully supportive of route development which enhances choice and affordability for the consumer, provided that new routes prove economically sustainable in the long-term.

“It is not in the interest of the consumer, or the aviation sector as a whole, for new routes to be opened only to be discontinued due to insufficient customer uptake.

“To date, we have not seen any convincing evidence produced by GBBCA which supports the assertion that an expansion in the number of routes operating from the airport would prove economically sustainable in the long-term.

“In addition to the above concerns, the Consumer Council is mindful of the many environmental, economic and social issues associated with the GBBCA planning application.

“Given the scope and complexity of the issues involved, the Consumer Council believes it would be difficult for all matters to be given full consideration in an open and transparent manner without the planning application being made subject to a Public Inquiry……..

“The Consumer Council believes the case for conducting a Public Inquiry is strengthened by the fact there is currently no aviation strategy to provide a framework for airport development in Northern Ireland.

“The Consumer Council will continue to call for a Northern Ireland aviation strategy to provide a strategic policy context within which similar decisions will be assessed in the future”.

Belfast City Airport, an EU-designated 'city airport', is meant to enforce a strict curfew on night-time flights because of its location close to a heavily populated conurbation. It is supposed to pull down the shutters at 9.30pm, with extensions allowed for ‘exceptional circumstances’ – but breaches of the planning regulations are commonplace.

Residents’ groups have been monitoring the airport’s behaviour and have given it a resounding “2 out of ten” for effort.

The airport has consistently, and without apology, broken the 9.30pm curfew, and May was a typical month  – on 14 nights out of 31, this airport allowed flights after 9.30pm.

The new Lord Mayor of Belfast, Naomi Long, is backing a Public Inquiry into plans to extend the runway at the City Airport.

The City Councillor and MLA supported the demand for an inquiry during the recent debate on the issue in the Assembly, in addition, Cllr Long has been vocal in her support of constituents’ rights in her East Belfast constituency.

The Chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Regional Development Committee, Fred Cobain, has come out and given his backing to calls for a Public Inquiry into the City Airport’s planned runway extension.

Better still, the senior MLA made known his views during a visit to the Airport.

Members of his Committee were given a presentation and guided tour of the Airport before Mr Cobain delivered the devastating blow to Belfast City Airport bosses.