Time to chop these flights
9:17am Friday 28th March 2008
Comments (5)I wish to highlight the growing problem of helicopter noise across Brent and Harrow. We recently conducted a local survey.
Many residents were reconciled to putting up with helicopter noise - if there was a good reason for it.
Others felt that the level of intrusion from helicopters already required greater justification. Some reported children suffering from sleeplessness because of them.
Greater transparency is required, especially in the case of police flights. A few days ago, I managed to establish the reason for a low-flying helicopter circling in the Kingsbury area for 15 minutes.
Whatever the time of day or duration, Sunday morning included, residents could be expected to have been disturbed or even alarmed by it.
I was not impressed to learn then, from a reliable source, that police were "looking for a stolen vehicle in the area".
Does this really constitute the best use of finite police resources?
What is the success rate of such cost-intensive deployments compared to, say, greater visibility on the ground?
A recent report by the City Hall environment committee, chaired by the Greens, identified a number of gaps in the monitoring and public availability of data on helicopter flights.
The report concluded that helicopters are having a negative impact on the quality of life of Londoners ("London in a spin - a review of helicopter noise", Oct 2006).
I would like to see the establishment of a public log of helicopter movements, with a delay to take account of any operational sensitivities by all means.
Residents need to be able to better appraise whether our collective resources are being used wisely - and that includes the free use of our skies.
Shahrar Ali
Brent and Harrow constituency candidate for the London Assembly
Brent Green Party
Your Say YourHarrow Times
Ringdu, Harrow says...
12:59pm Sun 30 Mar 08
Or say a child is missing and they use the heat seeking cameras to detect the whereabouts?
What a waste of money writing a report on helicopter flights.
Helicopters are either going to be used by emergency services or the extremely rich millionaires which are probably most likely to be based in Chelsea and Kensington...
SA, Kingsbury, Brent says...
1:49pm Mon 31 Mar 08
http://www.london.go
v.uk/assembly/report
s/environment/helico
pter_noise_report.pd
f
Many groups submitted written evidence.
Other reports of the environment committee, eg, on Heathrow expansion, loss of street trees, allotment provision, at:
http://www.london.go
v.uk/assembly/report
s/environment.jsp
SA
Neveragreen, Neveragreen says...
10:58pm Sun 11 May 08
Well I say - NGIMBY (No Greens In My Back Yard). We're not interested in your agenda. If you don't like modern life, then move out of the city.
Neveragreen, Neveragreen says...
11:01pm Sun 11 May 08
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Notagreen, London says...
3:55pm Fri 28 Mar 08
Oh what a surprise. I was expecting this committee to report what a great job helicopters do in catching criminals and assisting injured citizens.
Is there anyone who honestly believes that our resident greens are capable of objective and fair analysis when dealing with these issues?
I would like the greens to explain where they spend tax payers money. Tell us about the trips and conferences that we the taxpayer fund. Residents need to be able to better appraise whether the greens are using our resources wisely.