In February, people living under LBA’s flight path sent GALBA their personal statements about how flights affect them and what they think about LBA’s plan for more night time flying.
Three people sent us their selfie videos. You can watch them on our YouTube channel.
Stephen is retired and lives in Cookridge: “In the night, we’re regularly woken at 3am as the flights come in… In the evenings, we can’t have the windows open because you can’t hear yourself speak… it’s absolutely atrocious…”
Jodi is a GP who lives in Kirkstall: “We have a lot of disruption from the flights here… They start at six o’clock… we usually have every ten minutes of them going through… and I don’t understand why we’re trying to increase flights while we’re in this climate emergency… ”
Mike works from home in Guiseley: “The level of noise is often deafening, you have to stop any conversations… We are really settled where we are and in any case, we couldn’t afford the cost of moving, let alone the disruption to my son’s schooling and my work…”
Photo by Neil Terry
Some people preferred to send us written statements but asked to remain anonymous because they did not want to risk being subjected to abusive responses.
A Yeadon resident told us that LBA “is now much bigger than it was ever designed to be. It is impersonal, cold, uncaring and controlled by foreign conglomerates solely for profit… It is now an unacceptable nuisance that spoils my enjoyment of life, it showers my home and garden with pollution, destroys peaceful sleep and endangers my health and that of others… I’m regularly woken in the early hours by loud aircraft noise and strobe lights flashing through my bedroom window.” You can read their full statement here.
A Burley resident said “the night flights to and from Leeds Bradford Airport have a profound effect on the quality of my life, particularly on my sleep, and subsequently my mental health… I have lived in the property for over 20 years and this is something that has had a progressively larger impact over the years as flights have increased in frequency… If LBA are allowed to increase the level of night flights it will have a very real impact on the quality of life for thousands of people.” You can read their full statement here.
Photo by Neil Terry
An Otley resident told us “Living right under the flight path in Otley is a choice I made… However proposals to increase the amount of planes that already go overhead is abhorrent to those of us living in the area… If I made the amount of noise that LBA does during the quiet hours of the morning, I’d be prosecuted!” You can read their full statement here.
A Horsforth resident said “Starting at 6am in the morning I am regularly woken by the first tranche of flights departing the airport. With several flights leaving at short intervals early in the morning, this is a constant and regular disturbance to my sleep and well-being… my wife and I like to sit and eat outside and enjoy our garden in an evening, we are regularly disturbed by the noise and lights from flights and at times have just given up and retreated inside.” You can read their full statement here.
Credit: Neil Terry