Heathrow restores the Brockley peace

Heathrow Airport has today confirmed that the report it commissioned to examine the impact of its night flight trials, which have disturbed many Brockley residents' sleep over recent months, recommends that the trial "should not be taken forward in its present form". This should mean quieter nights for this part of London (although have some sympathy for the 100,000 West Londoners that the trial reportedly benefited).

The statement by Heathrow Airport specifically calls out Brockley as an area adversely affected by the trial and a reason why the report recommends that the night flight patterns should cease:

The trial, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, did though have some unforeseen consequences. Some areas, such as Brockley in South East London saw an increase in night flights. Also during the trial aircraft joined the approach paths further from touchdown in order to avoid overflying the exclusion zones. This in turn resulted in the areas between the zones being overflown more during the trial. The Helios report recommends that the trial should not be taken forward in its present form and adds that, in future, pre-trial assessments should be undertaken to predict likely outcomes to better understand the balance of likely the benefits against the unintended negative outcomes.

The fact that Brockley gets a name-check in the statement is a testament to the effectiveness of the campaign, started by Brockley resident Elise Parkin, who used these pages to good effect, collecting evidence and mobilising other residents.