Eastleigh Borough Council Airport Consultative Committee Meeting

RESOLVED –

It was agreed that Councillor David Airey be elected as Chair for 2021/22.

Councillor Janice Asman and Councillor Spiros Vassiliou were nominated for Vice-Chair of the Committee. Members carried out a vote.

RESOLVED –

It was agreed that Councillor Janice Asman be elected as Vice-Chair for 2021/22.

RESOLVED –

It was agreed that Laura Johnston be appointed as Honorary Secretary for 2021/22.

RESOLVED –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2021 to be confirmed and signed as a true record.

Members of the Consultative Committee were asked to consider the proposed

changes to the membership to ensure all relevant stakeholders interests were

represented.

RESOLVED –

That the proposed additions to the current Constituted make-up along with Twyford Parish Council be agreed.

Members of the Consultative Committee were asked to note the Member Code of Conduct.

RESOLVED –

That the Member Code of Conduct be noted.

The Operations’ Director reported that there were no safety issues or incidents reported within the last 3 months. Although passenger numbers were still low, the Airport were currently in conversations with British Airways and were hoping that as more countries were added to the green list, more flights would be available.

It was reported that no staff remained on furlough, the opening hours of the airport had resumed to normal and shops had started to re-open.

Whilst the airport had made a loss of £6.5m in 2020 with a forecast for 2021 at a loss of £6.7m, it had recently been accredited with ISO14001.

It was reported that between 1 February 2021 and 31 May 2021, there were no night flights, 5 helicopter movements and 263 training flights. There were 8 noise complaints for operations to the north and 53 noise complaints for operations to the south. 32 complaints had been received from one household in the Bitterne Park area.

The Chair was delighted to announce that Rob Light, Head Commissioner of Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise (ICCAN) had requested to attend and speak at the next meeting.

It was reported that the Carbon Footprint Report 2020 had been completed and can be found on Southampton Airport’s website.

Following the latest audit that was undertaken, the airport had been awarded the ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System Certification.

Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) Scheme aims to deliver 32 new double decker electric buses to operate on the UniLink services between Southampton City Centre, the University of Southampton, University Hospital of Southampton, Southampton Airport and areas of Portswood and Swaythling. If funding is approved, it would aim to commence at the start of the 2022/23 academic year at the University.

World Environment Day was on 5 June 2021 and the Airport had been working with a fantastic charity called Youth Options.

A new contract was in place with Radio Taxis. There will be an opportunity for formal tender of business later this year. The Operations’ Director recommended that Private and Hackney drivers contact him to arrange a meeting.

The head of Planning and Development at Southampton Airport provided members with a planning update and outlined timelines and financing. An update was provided, and a short video was played to members regarding Freeports.

Councillor Angela Clear left the meeting at 15:56.

Councillor Martin Tod left the meeting at 15:59.

The Chair welcomed Chris Hall to the meeting and requested that the Accessibility meetings are held before the Airport Consultative Committee so that an update can be given at each committee meeting. The Chair has requested that 3-5 members volunteer to be part of the Accessibility Meetings.

Councillor David Fuller left the meeting at 15:25.

The Technical Working Group (TWG) was suspended throughout lockdown. A brief meeting had taken place without attendees to decide how frequently the group should meet. It was agreed that the TWG would meet before each Airport Consultative Committee so that updates could be provided.

The next meeting will be held on Friday 8 October 2021. Due to the Government Guidelines, the next meeting would likely be held via Microsoft Teams.