Penzance Proposed Heliport Up-date


Leonardo – formerly AgustaWestland - AW139



To whom it may concern,

Dear .................

Open letter 17.6.18.

Unresolved issues concerning Penzance Heliport planning application.

We are a coalition of concerned local residents, environmental groups and health professionals asking that Cornwall Council and the members of the Strategic Planning Committee defer their consideration of Penzance Heliport from the meeting on 28th June in order to give time to investigate several serious outstanding issues.

We are writing this open letter because we do not feel we are being heard.

We absolutely agree that Scilly needs robust and reliable transport links and that they have at times been let down in the past.

1.  However, there are several unresolved issues. These cannot be dealt with between now and the 28th June 2018 and so a pause in the planning application process is vital to avoid any decision made being legally unsafe. Since aircraft noise is exempt from noise nuisance control there will be no possibility of restricting operations once planning permission has been granted.

An independent acoustic assessment (May 2018) by Applied Acoustic Design (AAD) concluded that “without further clarification and further information, it would be unsafe to base a decision to grant planning consent for the heliport on the WYG report”. 

WYG have responded but failed to clarify how the use of high background noise readings taken from busy road junctions accurately reflects the loss of amenity for the majority of the 15,000 people, within 2.5km, who live in quiet residential areas.

The 55dB noise contour needs to be properly determined, accounting for the reflective properties of the sea, the amphitheatre shape of Mounts Bay and the fact that the aircraft when fully loaded will need to hover and rise to 250 feet before they can move away. 

Furthermore, reference should be made to the University of Salford Report (NANR 235, 2008) entitled Research into the Improvement of Management of Helicopter Noise. This states clearly that much of the nuisance from helicopters is caused by their low frequency and impulsive noise, that flight events fewer than 1 per hour can be highly annoying and that helicopters should be regarded as 15dBA more annoying than fixed wing aircraft. WYG is wrong to conclude that overflights will cause no significant harm.

2. Airports Commission guidelines from 2014 need to be complied with in order to properly quantify the psychological and physical health impacts on those living within the 55dB contour. Reference should be made to the Lawton and Fujiwara review of 2016 (Living with Aircraft Noise) and the CAA report of 2016, Aircraft Noise and Health Effects (CAP1278). Estimations should be made of the predictable loss in quality of life and increases in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease for those living within the 55dB contour. Gulval School is 1000m from the site. There is clear evidence that noise nuisance at this level can cause cognitive impairment in children. The WYG data suggests 1,300 people will be affected. Our view is that the noise impact is understated and that the figure is likely to be more than 5,000. This is a critical concern and requires independent review.

3. Helicopter emissions exceed those of other modes of transport. We call on the Council to commission an independent study examining the health and environmental impacts from harmful emissions, including NO2 and particulate matter.

4. Since 11th May, local opposition to the Heliport has increased by 151% (from 33 to 84). To date, despite reasonable requests from concerned local residents, a public meeting on the planning application has not yet been convened, contrary to Cornwall Council’s planning protocol.

5. 95% of registered support is from holidaymakers who do not live in Cornwall and who have been canvassed for their support. There should be a breakdown of the data to demonstrate the true level of local support. The desire of holidaymakers for increased convenience must be appropriately balanced against the permanent harm to health that will result from this development.

6. On the natural environment impacts, Natural England have stated in its May 2018 submission that “significant effects cannot be ruled out”. We call for the impact on the environment and wildlife to be properly and independently assessed.

7. The current proposal is for 80 hours flying time over 7 days compared to the pre 2012 level of 60 hours over 6 days. This represents a significant escalation of the previous noise nuisance. Airports Commission guidelines make it clear that Cornwall Council has a duty to mitigate harm and all health and wellbeing consequences should be properly quantified to enable the necessary degree of mitigation to be calculated. This still needs to be done.

For the above reasons, we call on you – as our locally elected representatives – to listen to the local community, defer your judgment and ensure you arrive at the right decision for all stakeholders.

Yours sincerely,

Signed by local GP and five others.