History
HACAN ClearSkies started life in the 1960s as KACAN - Kew Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise. Within 10 years the acronym altered and we became HACAN - Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise. Both organisations always recognised that Heathrow has a contribution to make to the national economy, and to the London's local economy. We have never opposed Heathrow per se. Our aim has been to represent the concerns of the residents under the flight paths and around the airport.
HACAN became HACAN ClearSkies in 1999/2000 as aircraft noise became a serious problem for the first time in areas of London and the Thames Valley much further away from Heathrow. People are troubled by aircraft noise who live over 20 miles from the airport. There was a change in the way the aircraft were brought into land in 1996, bringing noise to these new areas. This was done in secret, without consultation or warning with the local councils or the local communities.
We believe that residents have been betrayed by successive governments.
In 1978, the Inspector at the Terminal 4 Public Inquiry recommended the go-ahead for the terminal, but with a strict limit on the number of flights. Within a short time of the terminal opening (in the late 1980s) that limit had ben ignored.
In the 1990s we fought the longest Public Enquiry in UK history - lasting nearly 4 years - against Terminal 5. In 2001, the Inspector recommended the go-ahead for Terminal 5, but with a limit of 480,00 flights per year. The Government accepted the limit, but within 9 months it had putl out for consultation proposals for a 3rd runway which would have increased the annual number of flights to 655,000. Terminal 5 in due to be open in 2007.
Following a 2 year campaign (2001 - 03), proposals for a 3rd runway were put on hold until at least 2015. The annoucement was made as part of the Government's Aviation White Paper, published in December 2003. It announced that it expected a near-trebling of passengers by 2030 and proposed a significant UK-wide programme of airport expansion. But the 3rd runway has only been put on the back-burner and could emerge again in 2015 or before.
The Department for Transport is currently examining proposals to make fuller use of the existing runways. One of HACAN's early achievements was to get what is known as "runway alternation". It means planes landing over London switch runways at 3pm, so the residents worst affected by aircraft noise only get the planes for half the day. The Government is now looking at plans to end runway alternation. Another broken promise. The plan would increase the number of planes using Heathrow to 515,000 a year.
HACAN ClearSkies has gone to the highest court in Europe over night flights. In 2001 the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg found in our favour, and against the Government. It agreed that night flights were an infringement of our human right to a good night's sleep. But the Government appealed and the court upheld the appeal in July 2003. The Government is expected to come out with new proposals for night flights in 2007.
HACAN ClearSkies now works with protest groups across the UK and all over Europe. We are not in the business of 'exporting our misery' to somebody else. We believe that the only hope to bring a halt to the incessant pressure for expansion of Heathrow is a change of direction in Government policy. As members of the national unmbrella body, AirportWatch, we are challenging the Government's wider policy on aviation. We argue that it has unacceptable social and environmental consequences. We argue that, if the substantial tax concesions the industry receives each year were phased out, the Government could manage demand.
With our lively campaigning we have achieved a high profile in the media. We also produce reports which we present to MPs, Government ministers, and those in authority. We have mounted small demonstrations outside Millbank, and outside the AGMs of both BAA plc and BA plc. We organised a march, accompanied by a jazz band, from Whitehall to Parliament Square.
