A petition is to be delivered to the Prime Minister calling for tighter
restrictions on night flights from East Midlands Airport. The online
petition on the 10 Downing Street website was created by Steve Charlish,
the chairman of campaign group DEMAND (Demand East Midlands Airport is Now
Designated).
The petition comes after statistics revealed that the airport has more
night-time flights than Gatwick and Heathrow airports combined. During
2007 there were more than 19,888 flights from East Midlands between 23:00
and 07:00. At Heathrow, there were 6,238, while at Gatwick there were
12,909 (both figures taken from 23:30 to 06:00).
Mr Charlish said the night flights are not just keeping people awake, they
are also damaging their health by causing stress and depression. He wants
East Midlands Airport to be designated in the same way that the London
airports are. This would mean that its night flights were restricted by
Government regulations.
North West Leicestershire MP David Taylor, who is supporting the petition,
demanded to know why the number of night flights was being allowed after
questions in Parliament last week. He said: ‘Once there are enough names
on the petition, I will be drawing it to the attention of the Transport
Secretary and then, hopefully, bringing it specifically to the notice of
the Prime Minister.'
The petition is available at:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/peacefulnight