From Gerard Baudains.
IT’S 11am on Saturday and I’m sitting at my desk, struggling to concentrate because of a loud buzzing noise (outside of the house the sound is seriously irritating). This noise is nothing new. It used to happen infrequently, but over the past few months this year it has become several hours a day almost every day.
What’s causing the noise? Light aircraft. They fly down the St Clement coastline to the La Rocque area and then fly back again. Several times a day. Unfortunately, unlike commercial aircraft, they are both noisier and linger longer in passing. The worst is when they spend an hour or more circling overhead, meaning the buzzing becomes constant. Some days this has gone on from early afternoon until 7.30pm.
A few months ago, I contacted the Airport about this (not easily done, as there’s no obvious means of contact).
Anyway, I managed, with assistance, to make contact. Sadly, though, as expected, no resolution resulted.
And so, with the increasingly persistent irritation preventing one sitting outside in this fine weather – or even concentrating in my (double-glazed) office or workshop – I hit on the idea of invoking the Statutory Nuisance Law. I duly contacted the appropriate department, only to be informed the law didn’t apply to aircraft.
So now what? First of all, why are these aircraft allowed to make so much noise? They are piston-engined, so why aren’t they silenced like a car? And why do the pilots feel they can inconvenience other people when, for example, they would soon call the police if I rode a noisy motorcycle around their house for hours on end? Maybe it’s a social thing – as Jersey gets ever more overcrowded, people become more selfish and aggressive towards others.
Anyway, something has to be done, so I think I’ll investigate the idea that came to me after being told the SNL doesn’t apply to aircraft. Drones are aircraft, so they will be exempt as well. I’ll need to find a noisy one and fly it constantly over someone else’s property for several hours a day.
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