Complaints Handling
Rushmoor Borough Council, subject to a number of
conditions, granted permission for the redevelopment of
Farnborough Airport, into a civil licensed dedicated
business airport. The conditions were the subject of a
Town and Country Planning Act Section 106/299A
agreement signed by both parties. One of the stipulations
of this agreement was the submission and agreement with
Rushmoor of preferred noise routes, and the enforcement of
such routes.
Paragraph 9 and 9a of the agreement set out the council’s
requirements for complaint handling at the airport.
Paragraph 9a reads: -
“The company shall keep a record of all complaints it
receives, including the name, address, contact details of
the complainant and detail of the complaint, regarding
noise, air quality, odour, track keeping and alleged vortex
damage. It shall also keep a record of the Company’s
response in terms of its timing, details as to the
cause(s)of the complaint and the action taken, if any, to
remedy the situation.”
TAG has therefore implemented and published Noise
Abatement Procedures that include preferred noise
routes for aircraft arriving and departing the airport, a
complaints handling procedure, and a mechanism for
addressing unauthorised failures to comply with the
noise abatement procedures.
Track-keeping and Compliance
All aircraft radar tracks are assessed for compliance with the noise abatement
procedures. Checks are made against the required glidepath angle and coarse sector
signal zone along the extended runway centreline for all arrivals using the ILS.
Helicopters are subject to different procedures. Light aircraft (those with Maximum Take
off Weights of less than 2730kg) are not required to comply with noise abatement
procedures.
Aircraft are on occasion authorised to undertake visual approaches In such circumstances
the aircraft must follow the same flight path procedure as used for instrument
approaches, intercepting on final approach at no less than three nautical miles and
descending on a slope of 3.5 degrees, as indicated by the airport based visual aids.
Departures are assessed for compliance with the relevant sections of the procedures as
published in the UK AIP (Aeronautical Information Publication) as relevant to the
departure runway in use (i.e. for r/way 06 paragraph AD 2-EGLF-1-9 c and e, for r/way
24 Paragraph AD 2-EGLF-1-9 c.)
Tracks can be categorised as follows:
Compliant
* 1b) arrival – visual approach authorised by ATC.
* 1c) departure – follows Noise Abatement Procedures.
* 1a) arrival – approach within the parameters of the ILS signal.
* 1d) departure - cancellation of the Noise Abatement Procedures authorised by
ATC.
Non-compliant
* 2a) arrival – approach outside the parameters of the ILS signal.
* 2b) arrival – visual approach not authorised by ATC.
* 2c) departure – does not follow Noise Abatement Procedures.
* 2d) departure – does not follow ATC instructions after cancellation of Noise
Abatement Procedures.
Infringement Procedure
On concluding an aircraft undertook an unauthorised manoeuvre, TAG addresses the
aircraft operating company at an operational level to request an explanation of the
reason behind the non-compliance.
Failure to provide this information, or to satisfy TAG as to the manner in which the non
compliance has been dealt with leads to the raising of the issue with the aircraft
operating company’s directors. The ultimate sanction available to the airport is to restrict
their use of the airport. This is available as a result of the CAA Ordinary License held by
TAG at the airport.
Complaints Procedure
A dedicated telephone line 01252 526001 and email address
complaints@tagfarnborough.com has been provided on which interested parties may
leave details of complaints and queries. Once received all complaints are recorded on a
database and investigated. In accordance with the Complaints charter TAG endeavours to
respond to all complaints within 10 working days.
Any such investigations are carried out in addition to daily checks on compliance by
aircraft with the requirements of the preferred noise routes. Non-compliances detected
by either exercise are subject to the infringement procedure outlined above.
Rushmoor Borough Council, through their enforcement role of the Public Nuisance
Legislation, (Part III of the Environment Protection Act 1990), may receive complaints
directly from members of the public. All complaints received are investigated in full by
TAG. The Council is under obligation through Paragraph 2.1 of Schedule 2 of their
Section 106/299A Agreement with TAG, to pass details of any such complaints received
to TAG within 24 hours of their receipt.
Full details of actions taken at every stage of both investigation and enforcement of
reported issues are maintained by TAG. These details are recorded in reports sent to
Rushmoor Borough Council (under Paragraph 9b of the Section 106/299A Agreement)
and to the Farnborough Aerodrome Consultative Committee (FACC) meetings.
ENVIRONMENT PAGES
FARNBOROUGH AERODROME CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE
An independent Consultative Committee established by TAG Farnborough in accordance with a
Section 106 agreement of the Town and Country Planning Act