Lords keep nights quiet in Putney & Wandsworth

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as Peers highlight the misery caused by sleep loss�.

The Government has suffered a 40-vote defeat in the House of Lords over its plans to abolish limits on the numbers of planes able to fly at night.

Peers had highlighted the misery caused by sleep loss and its effect on people's health.

Wandsworth Council had led the campaign in south and west London to save the current cap. Speaking after the vote council leader Edward
Lister said:

"This is a victory for airport communities everywhere. Early morning flights ruin people's sleep and damage their health. The Government and the airlines wanted to do away with the only protection people living near airports have. Once again it has taken the Lords to speak up for the interests of ordinary people.

"The message from the Lords is that enough is enough. It is time the quality of life of people who suffer from early morning noise was placed ahead of the interests of the airlines.

"Sadly the Government may still try to force this through in the Commons.
Campaigners will now be turning their attention to London MPs with constituents affected by aircraft noise. We are determined to build on the momentum achieved by today's stunning success."

Peers from all sides spoke out in favour of retaining the night flights cap.

Lord Hanningfield said the Government's plan to rely on a noise quota was wholly inadequate for assessing the impact on sleep.

Baroness Tonge warned that night flights were ruining people's lives in west London. She added that she had never seen a serious argument of how the economy would suffer if there were fewer flights.

Lord Berkeley said he could not understand why the Government needed to remove the cap now when it had assured the House that it could not be applied until 2012.

The Lords voted by 167 to 127 to remove Clause 2(2) of the Civil Aviation Bill. This clause would have allowed the transport secretary to control aircraft movements before 6am solely by reference to an overall 'noise quota'. The Bill is likely to come back to the House of Commons during April.


March 10, 2006