Eastleigh Borough Council Airport Consultative Committee Meeting

RESOLVED –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2022 be agreed as a correct record.

The Honorary Secretary to the Committee introduced the item and explained the reasons for the recommendation. Councillors Savage, Bunday and Vassiliou advised that they had not received the agenda and advance warning of this item.

It was confirmed that the communication had been sent; and IT settings for Southampton City Council receiving communications would be checked. 

RESOLVED –

It was agreed that the Term of Office for Chair be amended to two years. The Constitution will be updated accordingly.

The Operations Director reported that:

·  There had been no safety issues or incidents reported in the last four months.

·  The runway extension’s legal process was now complete, and work was now able to commence on the project.

·  Passenger numbers were continuing to increase, and the airport had resumed to their normal opening hours.

·  Emerald Airlines and Flybe were now flying from Southampton.

·  The British Safety Council had awarded the Airport a Distinction at the International Safety Awards 2022 and a 5 star safety award.

·  The Operations Director attended the Sustainability Expo and encouraged people to engage and work with them.

·  MarlhillCopse Planning Appeal Hearing was to take place in November.

·  The Airport have arranged three dates for Councillors to visit the airport. The dates were as follows:

-  Thursday 27 October 1400 - 1600

-   Monday 31 October 1300 – 1500

-  Tuesday 8 November 1000 – 1200

The Head of Planning and Development provided an update with regards to the extension of the runway. The Airport are currently working closely with the planning team at Eastleigh Borough Council and reviewing the Construction Management Plan. Construction is due to start in early 2023.

The Section 106 was presented and discussed.

The Noise Forum was discussed. Councillors Bunday and Savage requested that the membership be reviewed as they feel a lot of the focus seems to target Eastleigh residents rather than Southampton. Councillor Savage requested that St Denys had a representative.

The Airport presented the number of helicopter movements and training flights between June and September. Over the 4 months, 299 complaints from 64 households had been received with the majority of complaints from the Bitterne Park area. The noise complaint received for the flight between the hours of midnight and 1am was not a Southampton flight.  

The Noise Action Plan is currently being rewritten for 2023.

A timeline was presented to the Committee.

The Parish Clerk for Colden Common Parish Council advised that she was not aware that the Noise Action Plan had gone to public consultation. Steve committed to find out who emails were sent to and provide a written response

Councillor Martin Lyon joined the meeting at 15:05.

The Airspace Change timeline was presented and the stages were explained to the Committee.

The Airport provided an update which included the Carbon Management Plan. (see appended slides)

The Accessibility Forum were due to meet on 21 October 2022. New attendees and organisations will be welcome.

The Technical Working Group met on 23 September 2022. All items discussed at the meeting had been covered in today’s agenda.

It was agreed the next meeting would take place on Friday 3 February 2023 via Microsoft Teams.