MP claims flight path consultation was ‘flawed from day one’

Anger over decisionmaking process for E7a proposals

A Fife MP has written to air regulators to convince them a consultation for a new Fife flight path was “flawed from day one”.

The move follows a recent meeting between Lesley Laird and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) representatives to discuss Edinburgh Airport’s Airspace change proposal for flight path E7a.

The altered flight path has sparked anger among affected communities, which include Aberdour, Inverkeithing, Dalgety Bay and North Queensferry.

Mrs Laird, MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, said: “At the meeting with the CAA I learned that the airport’s consultation has to abide by rules known as the ‘Gunning Principles’.

“These include the need for the airport to suggest ideas, retain an open mind, and consider feedback before making a final decision.

“It’s clear to me that the E7a consultation failed to meet that test requirement.”

She added: “This is Edinburgh Airport’s third proposal for this flight path area and, despite previous calls from the Aberdour community asking for flights to track along the Forth, this latest proposal brings jets closer to residential areas than ever before.

“That clearly suggests airport planners are not listening and have already made a decision – with commercial reasons driving it.”

Edinburgh Airport held a public meeting in Inverkeithing during the consultation – organised only after Lesley’s request – during which angry residents said noise from jet aircraft would make their lives a misery.

After pressure from the MP, the airport agreed to extend the month-long consultation by a week – but no longer.

“Feedback at that meeting and complaints to my office repeatedly flagged up that content in consultation documents was woefully short on details and hadn’t been distributed widely enough in any case,” Mrs Laird continued.

She concluded: “It just seems like this consultation was designed as an afterthought. It’s impossible to see, by any stretch of the imagination, how Edinburgh Airport has satisfied the guidelines of what constitutes a fair consultation process. I think this consultation was flawed from day one and I would urge the CAA to take cognisance of the issues I’ve raised before reaching a conclusion.”

A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: “We believe our consultation to be sound, clear and we are getting a great response. We’ve had good dialogue with the communities we’re targeting and wider at public meetings, on social media and in their responses via the post or on the website.

“Our goal here is just that – to stimulate debate and actively listen to communities’ views on our proposals.

“We’ll then actively consider what we learn and look at that against the proposals we put out.”

It’s impossible to see, by any stretch of the imagination, how Edinburgh Airport has satisfied the guidelines of what constitutes a fair consultation process. LESLEY LAIRD MP