Although 1.5 million leaflets on the airport consultation were distributed, a Surrey Heath campaign group says their villages were missed.
A Surrey Heath campaign group is continuing its battle for representation amid growing outrage over aircraft noise caused by Heathrow Airport .
Representing Lightwater , Windlesham and Bagshot , Aircraft Noise 3 Villages, is demanding action over increased aircraft noise.
Previously they have raised concerns over Surrey Heath Borough Council (SHBC) and Surrey County Council ‘s ‘failure’ to tackle the issue.
Now, the group says the three villages were excluded from leaflet distribution, inviting members of the public a series of public events on the Heathrow consultation.
As part of the draft Airports National Policy Statement consultation, the Department of Transport (DfT) has organised 20 events in areas around Heathrow.
One and-a-half million leaflets were distributed to publicise the free events, however Lightwater, Windlesham and Bagshot were not included, said Aircraft Noise 3 Villages.
In an email to DfT, Surrey Heath MP, Michael Gove and Surrey County Councillor, Mike Goodman, Rosalie James from the campaign group criticised the exclusion of the three villages from the consultation process.
“I would suggest that the DfT had a responsibility, at the very least, to include communities represented at the Heathrow Community Noise Forum as a base point for determining who is actually affected by noise,” she said.
“The DfT needs to start dealing with the realities of current noise.”
Mrs James continued to state that the consultation is a “flawed and biased process”.
Writing in response to the complaints, policy official for the DfT’s Airport Capacity Directorate, Matthew Bigault, stressed that publicity for the events was not restricted to the leaflets.
“A full list of venue addresses was available online by the time the leaflets were distributed, and were also available via the Freephone number listed on the leaflet,” he said.
“We have also advertised in a number of local papers, on national and local radio stations and through various digital platforms. These various media have been designed to encourage people to attend a nearby event.”
He added: “Delivering this volume of leaflets understandably takes time. We specified that delivery should be prioritised in those areas where the first events were being held.
“We apologise to residents who feel they were not given enough notice.”
However, this provided little comfort to campaigners demanding action over issues that come inter-linked with the Heathrow Airport expansion.
Mrs James added in response: “You can rest assured that I shall be submitting a formal complaint about this flawed and biased process.”
Article originally published by Get Surrey
