Campaigners opposed to airport expansion and excess aviation noise delivered a letter to the Prime Minister saying communities must have a say in major changes to airspace that could impact hundreds of thousands of lives.

Representatives from 22 community and environmental groups went to 10 Downing Street to hand deliver a letter to Andy Burnham warning proposed aviation reforms could strip residents of a meaningful or independent review.

They said the The Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill, gives the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) new rule-making powers which campaigners say will short change communities.

They argue the proposals leave the CAA, a statutory body funded by the aviation industry, as the decision-maker, regulator and final arbiter on changes that can reshape communities overnight.

Pictured at 10 Downing Street: Sally Pavey, chair of CAGNE; Philip Jeffery, East Twickenham Heathrow Campaign; John Stewart, HACAN East; Florence Long, Aviation Environment Federation; John Sadler, Campaign to Protect Rural England; John Milne MP for Horsham. Picture courtesy of CAGNE

placeholder image — Pictured at 10 Downing Street: Sally Pavey, chair of CAGNE; Philip Jeffery, East Twickenham Heathrow Campaign; John Stewart, HACAN East; Florence Long, Aviation Environment Federation; John Sadler, Campaign to Protect Rural England; John Milne MP for Horsham. Picture courtesy of CAGNE

They are calling on the PM to back an independent aviation ombudsman to oversee airspace change and give residents a fair, transparent and credible right of appeal outside the CAA.

Sally Pavey, chair of Communities against Gatwick Noise Emissions (CAGNE), said: “This bill risks giving communities the worst of both worlds: more decisions made over their heads, with no independent way to review them.

“If there is to be an independent ombudsman in the Clean Water Bill, and passengers, airlines already have one then there must also be one for the impacts of airspace change.”

Liberal Democrat MP for Horsham, John Milne, said: “This is not about opposing aviation; it is about basic fairness.

“When major decisions are taken that affect people’s homes and wellbeing, residents should have a genuinely independent route to raise concerns outside the Civil Aviation Authority.

“Ombudsman protection exists in many other sectors. Aviation communities deserve the same safeguard.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said the bill does not change existing consultation requirements, and communities will continue to have a meaningful say on airspace changes that could affect them.

They added: “The CAA has robust internal mechanisms for dealing with complaints and is already subject to oversight by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.”