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29 October 2009

CPRE Shropshire, and CPRE groups around the country, are concerned about the increasing impact of aircraft noise on rural tranquillity. Changes to flightpaths in March 2006 drew increased air traffic over the Shropshire Hills AONB. As a result Shropshire Council recorded a 21% increase in air traffic over the Shropshire Hills one of the last tranquil refuges in England.

Outrageously in October 2009 the government rejected concerns about aircraft noise in rural areas. It told the House of Commons that tranquillity is subjective: “Tranquillity is a subjective quality and as such can mean different things to different people… While Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Parks are afforded certain statutory protection this does not extend to precluding over-flight by aircraft. In practice it would be impractical to prevent widespread over-flying of AONBs, or of National Parks without affecting reasonable levels of access to our airports.” This statement puts the government position in a nutshell – convenient access of flights to airports is more important than the peace and quiet in the few remaining tranquil refuges that so many people value.

Tranquil areas such as the Shropshire Hills are valued not just by those that live there, but also by tourists, who might otherwise fly out of the country to get peace and quiet. This irony has been lost on the government, whose agenda has been dominated by the airline industry. Tranquillity is not subjective. CPRE has invested in a carefully researched and widely respected methodology for measuring the tranquillity of landscapes. But this methodology has been ignored by the Department for Transport.

Ralph Smyth, CPRE's senior transport campaigner, said Government departments routinely come up with objective measures of other life qualities, after aggregating people's views. "The Government's response seems to be rather dismissive of the work that we have done. In national parks, there aren't many other factors affecting tranquillity, that's why having planes flying overhead is particularly intrusive."

As the Shropshire Star said when reporting the government position: “In today’s frenetic world, the ability to disappear into an oasis of peace and quiet is precious.”

Further Information

• Shropshire Star 29 October 2009: Complaints silenced
• Shropshire Star 29 October 2009: No cap on flights over tranquil hills
• Shropshire Star 3 November 2009. Tranquillity: "Views of area folk ignored"
• Tranquillity, including tranquillity maps for Shropshire and the AONB