Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By ChampChump
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1871010
More reports, changes of personnel in the Council, a decision possibly in a month or two is all I can tell you ATM here, I'm afraid.

:?
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1871014
There was a time when we had wagtails nesting in our hangar .

Delightful , neat little fellas , a joy to watch.

Then one year the swallows’ Sky Demon dropped out and they ended up nesting in our hangar instead of their usual
hangar 500 yds away.

Swallow cr ap everywhere ; amazingly caustic to aeroplane paintwork.

Coupla rolls of chicken wire on every flat beam/truss surface solved that problem for good.

Didn’t fortunately put off the owl who for a coupla years sat high up gobbing his pellets all over the floor…… :wink:
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By kanga
#1871026
There was one summer when a raptor (buzzard, I think) regularly perched on the corner of the JAM hangar nearest the airfield fence, or on that of the adjacent building supplies depot. It would occasionally swoop down onto the adjacent airside grass, presumably having spotted some small rodent, and then return. It normally, prudently, kept North of 09/27, but this would take it across the 'heli North' training area. Yes, we did 'phone across to ATC when it was in 'residence'. There also used to be some pile of something evidently attractive to raptors (or, presumably, their prey) just outside the airside fence South of the 36 threshold, with raptors hovering above visible from HP A3 and Twy B. Oh, and lots of bunnies under our Trident and outside Meteors when we opened up in the morning, reappearing when closing time was near dusk in the winter months.

There was a colony of aircraft-savvy groundhogs resident in the North (GA) area of Ottawa International, too. They usually loitered on the grass, but occasionally wandered (usually in a safe gap) across the taxiways. :)
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By Sooty25
#1878337
Flyboy25 wrote:Local reports of the nimbys holding a successful fundraising and information event???


From their website.

Fundraising event
THANK YOU! To all the businesses that donated a prize to help us raise more funds. Thank you to you, the supporters that purchased a ticket. Thank you to all the chocksgoaway helpers for selling the tickets. Thank you to all the supporters that packed out the hall and listened to our chairman and planning consultant. Thank you to everyone involved in setting up the Northbourne parish Hall. EVERYONE! we raised £3000 and more....we got this ....
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By TheFarmer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1878342
I’ve just spent some time reading the ChocksGoAway forum. What an amazing volume of ridiculously fabricated facts and views. They do seem to have gained a lot of support though, which isn’t great for the plans, and will certainly have the local Planners’ ear.

The argument about aircraft not interacting with equestrian is flawed - for years I flew in and out of one of the farms where we had 45 horses either side of the strip, and none of them ever flinched at all.

That being said, I really hate to say it, but once again, I do wonder if the farmer who set out to get this airfield started up might now be realising that the style and method of his approach to the project has been the reason they’re meeting such resistance.
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By eltonioni
#1878418
Sooty25 wrote:
Flyboy25 wrote:Local reports of the nimbys holding a successful fundraising and information event???


From their website.

Fundraising event
THANK YOU! To all the businesses that donated a prize to help us raise more funds. Thank you to you, the supporters that purchased a ticket. Thank you to all the chocksgoaway helpers for selling the tickets. Thank you to all the supporters that packed out the hall and listened to our chairman and planning consultant. Thank you to everyone involved in setting up the Northbourne parish Hall. EVERYONE! we raised £3000 and more....we got this ....


£3k eh? Way to gochocksaway.

From memory, I think the last bill I paid my planning consultant was £45k, his next one will be £70k. I just agreed £3.5k for my lawyer to send a basic contract. Barrister fees for an opinion on a simplish right of way matter were £9k. Etc.

But yep, they got this! If they are hoping for professionals to get it stopped they are going to have to dig a lot deeper. Hopefully, the airfield promotor is well enough advised to stop the mob winning the day.
Last edited by eltonioni on Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
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By skydriller
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1878420
Im impressed they got 3k quite frankly, especially if you read some of the carp on their forum/website or whatever...
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1878472
The next field to Bourne Park was something to do with horses, they had jumps and stuff. The horses were completely unfazed and uninterested in the aeroplanes.

The cows in the other field, on the other hand, were really curious. They'd all line up along the fence and watch as I did my run-up and take-off run!
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By TheFarmer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1878524
So, with all that confirmation that our hooved friends are not remotely affected by airfield activities, it’s also confirmation that our NIMBY friends are simply playing the animal welfare card misleadingly in that department.

However, being totally transparent, the biggest problem here is twofold…

1. Ignorance by non-flyers of the actual impact (minimal) on their day to day lives. This is almost impossible to sort, hence it’s always best to get on and fly from somewhere for a while first, so the headline figure of 7,500 movements is more of a ‘well we’ve been doing that for three years and you haven’t noticed’ scenario (after a gradual build-up to that level over a few years) rather than flying activities that have not yet even happened at all, and therefore impossible to defend or justify to a non-flyer.

2. An application that has slightly shot the project in its own foot with its over-transparency, (albeit best intentions) by mentioning things like electric aircraft and glamping, clearly just to get boxes ticked! :D

As I explained to someone recently who had his planning application for an airstrip refused, it’s a bit like two 17 year olds at boarding school. They both want to go into town on Saturday night, and they both get their stories ready for their housemaster.

The one who’s quietly been out a few times in the last few weeks (without complaints or incident) who plays down his intentions and doesn’t say too much about his plans gets to go, and the evening out develops into an epic one. In the morning, when the boy is first to breakfast with polished shoes and being helpful in the dining room, the housemaster passes him, doesn’t say anything, and they both carry on their lives. Two respecting sides, happily co-existing.

The one who’s yet to venture into town, who innocently says in absolute detail about all the really useful reasons he should be allowed to go and what his exact plans are, immediately puts the housemaster in a position where he knows exactly what the boy must/should be doing (because that’s what he promised him), and he ends up polishing shoes until 9pm and then had to go to bed, as it’s all too much risk for both parties, and has far too much scope to go too wrong.

This simple theme can be extended throughout life.

Whoever advised on this project really didn’t do a very good job of it!!

Sorry to be blunt.
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By MattL
#1878537
As a 17 year old at a comprehensive school and working in a well known burger restaurant, Saturday night consisted of closing down the restaurant early so we could leg it to the pub while being paid for the close down. Next morning consisted of staggering in to the restaurant trying to cook sausage muffins while epically hungover. This may or may not be relevant to people trying to get planning permissions for airfields.
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