A public noise surgery held in Abbotsley, allowing residents to discuss their concerns about aircraft noise, has been labelled by some as "productive" but others as "not useful".
London Luton Airport hosted the noise surgery on September 29 alongside support from National Air Traffic Services (NATS), who provided expertise in answering questions.
Head of flight operations at London Luton Airport, Nicole Prior, said: “We hold approximately six public surgeries each year.
"The surgeries provide an opportunity for local residents and councillors to meet with London Luton Airport’s Flight Operations team in order to discuss any queries and concerns on airspace and aircraft noise."
Residents have complained that the airport's new arrivals stacking system, which came into effect on February 24, has caused an increase in noise levels and pollution, detrimentally impacting their lives.
Many complained at a public meeting on July 5 that the impact and disturbances are much worse than indicated by the consultation, with many flights passing over villages towards the stack.
Around 27 members of the public attended the surgery, including the district councillor for Priory Park and Little Paxton, Cllr Stephen Ferguson.
Cllr Ferguson told The Hunts Post: "I had a productive discussion with NATS about the noise impact of the new Luton arrivals route, which surprisingly passes over Waresley, the Gransdens and Abbotsley.
"My point, which they largely conceded, was that residents of the villages that I represent did not respond to the consultation because it portrayed a large stack over Grafham and St Neots.
"No one expected all the aircraft to take a shortcut across the countryside.
"The NATS representatives said they only have a statutory duty to consult under 7000ft. I argued that they have a moral obligation to listen to residents affected by the noise who didn’t have a chance to consult because they thought they weren’t affected."
The vice-chairman for Waresley-cum-Tetworth Parish Council, Eleanor Jack, also attended the surgery and said she was "completely appalled" when she realised what was happening.
She said that she understood from the consultation that the holding stack would hardly be used but has since been told all flights will have to head towards the stack with approaches coming over Waresley.
After the meeting, Mrs Jack said: “It’s not been useful because they can only advise us to do things that we’ve already done like write to our MP and complain to Luton airport.
"This is intrusive, but they keep on saying there is no alternative, which, to come up with a consultation without giving you any alternatives, does seem like a bit of a waste of time, frankly. So yes, we are upset.”
The is now a post-implementation review running from June 1 2022, to May 31 2023.
The Civil Aviation Authority will take note of route and aircraft analysis from NATS, review all the complaints and feedback provided and judge whether any element of change needs to be further amended.
Manager of airspace delivery at NATS, Richard Crooks, said that NATS went "above and beyond" with the consultation and that there was good engagement with more than 2,500 responses.
Speaking about the aircraft routes, Mr Crooks said: “I think there was an expectation that there would be more aircraft routing a particular route from the hold, but we were very clear in the consultation material that we would be able to use the airspace tactically.
"Because what we are trying to do as air traffic controllers is give the aircraft the most efficient route possible to reduce the amount of fuel they burn and therefore reduce the amount of C02 that’s emitted. We don’t want to delay any aircraft without needing to delay the aircraft.”
However, Cllr Ferguson said he would be chairing a new cross-party working group at Huntingdonshire District Council to look into complaints and what can be done about the "route imposed on us without consultation".
He added: "I told them to expect strong political opposition from every elected member from the East of St Neots to the North of Cambridge, whose residents are filling our inboxes with noise complaints."
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