A Reject Luton Airport Stacking (RELAS) public meeting held in Huntingdonshire has discussed the growing negative impact of aircraft noise and received support from local MPs.

More than 150 people attended the second public meeting held by opposition group RELAS on February 23 at Little Gransden Village Hall to discuss the noise impact on Cambridgeshire villages from the new London Luton Airport arrivals route.

A "huge swathe" of people from South Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire villages, including Potton and Gamilingay, Longstanton, the Gransdens, Waresley and Abbotsley, have been impacted by aircraft noise as a result of changes to London Luton airport flight paths.

District councillor for Priory Park and Little Paxton, Stephen Ferguson, who chaired the meeting, told The Hunts Post: "The feeling was that people were even more upset about this noise than they were in July.

"I think 150 people for a local meeting on a Wednesday night is pretty unprecedented, so there's obviously a huge amount of passion in the community about solving this issue."

People have complained the noise has caused created a lack of sleep, a detrimental effect on mental health and a "real upset in the community."

Huntingdon MP Jonathan Djanogly and South Cambridgeshire MP Anthony Browne both sent video messages showing their support for the group, which hopes to force the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to reopen the consultation.

The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) held the consultation period during the lockdown in 2021, but Cllr Ferguson said of the 150 people who attended the last meeting in July, only around 20 people even knew about it.

READ MORE: People share concerns over aircraft noise at public meeting

"None of these people expected to have their lives blighted by noise," added Cllr Ferguson.

What Next?

The new arrivals route is currently in the post-implementation period, which thanks to the help of the MPs, will now end in September and not the original date of June.

Meeting organiser Rob Payne presented slides at the meeting to illustrate the magnitude of the problem and emphasised how important it is to continue complaining up until the deadline in September.

READ MORE: London Luton Airport public noise surgery labelled 'productive' but also 'not useful'

Cllr Ferguson said: "I'm optimistic with the support of our MPs that we will be able to force them to reopen the consultation.

"It's just encouraging people to keep on complaining every time they hear an aircraft passing over their houses."

NATS response

A spokesperson for the NATS said to The Hunts Post: "The airspace change known as 'London Luton Airport Arrivals' was implemented on February 24 following a 15-week public consultation and approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

"The new holding area and flight paths simplify and modernise the arrival routes into the UK's fifth busiest airport and separate them from Stansted's.

"Given the growth at both airports in recent years, separate arrival routes and a dedicated hold for each airport will ensure improved safety and help reduce delay.

"We are in the final stage of the airspace change (Stage 7), known as the Post Implementation Review (PIR), which is a data collection period of 12 months after implementation.

"In this instance, the CAA has asked that NATS and London Luton Airport extend the data collection period until September 22 2023, to inform the PIR analysis.

"The CAA believes this extension will provide a more representative data set, as traffic is still not back to pre-pandemic levels.

"During this period, a review of the airspace change is being carried out, and we collect data on aircraft tracks and altitude on the route and analyse expected flight paths vs actual flight paths.

"All complaints are logged and will form part of this analysis. Data gathering is ongoing and will be published after that analysis is complete.

"The CAA will then decide whether the airspace change met its objectives."