The Mayor of Schaerbeek, Audrey Henry, together with her counterparts from Koekelberg and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, cannot accept the announcement that the routes flying over the 450,000 residents of northern Brussels will remain in use until at least October!
After months of insistence, Mayor Audrey Henry of Schaerbeek and her counterparts from Koekelberg and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean were finally able to meet, on 4 February, with a representative from the Cabinet of the federal Minister for Mobility, Jean-Luc Crucke, who curiously avoided the “turbulence zone” of this meeting. Sole subject: the “Crucke Route”, in other words what has become a genuine air motorway causing unbearable noise pollution for the 450,000 residents of northern Brussels.
The meeting was particularly disappointing. The Cabinet was unable to offer any concrete and clear positive prospect. It repeatedly stressed Skeyes' (the air traffic control operator) determination to keep these flight paths in operation, while consistently downplaying its own political responsibility for managing flight paths and enforcing wind and noise standards.
Has Minister Crucke let go of the controls?
The Minister for Mobility never engaged in dialogue with the three municipalities and their residents. The mayors learned during this meeting that the straight RNP-07 flight paths would be maintained until at least the end of October. These are currently considered to be in a “test phase”. A situation the municipalities consider totally unacceptable.
The mayors are in no way disputing the requirements of aviation safety or compliance with European standards, but they believe these arguments alone cannot justify the intensive overflight of densely populated neighbourhoods. Furthermore, in the interest of public health, noise standards are legally set, yet these are simply not being respected. Numerous European airports demonstrate, on the contrary, that it is possible to adapt flight paths to urban realities without compromising safety.
In a new letter dated 6 February, the mayors are calling on the Minister to “take the controls of the plane” and to take, without delay, the necessary measures to reduce the disturbances suffered by local residents.
Their priority demands:
- effective enforcement of the night flight ban between 11pm and 7am;
- strict compliance with the instruction of 17 July 2013 (wind standards);
- rerouting heavy cargo traffic to less densely populated areas;
- prioritising flight paths that avoid overflying the Brussels Region, which is far more densely populated than the outskirts.
The Mayor of Schaerbeek, Audrey Henry (MR): “Schaerbeek is the municipality closest to the airport and, as a result, the most exposed to nuisance, due to the very low altitude of the planes. We do not question the safety requirements or the European obligations invoked by the Minister. However, we denounce a change in flight paths imposed without consultation, without informing local authorities and without an impact study. Overnight, entire neighbourhoods find themselves continuously overflown. The residents' anger is legitimate. I understand it and I share it. I say to Minister Crucke, "it's time to ask… the right questions".
“At the controls, Minister”: The mayors are of course renewing their invitation to Minister Crucke to come and meet residents at a citizens' meeting, in order to gauge the scale of the disturbances first-hand.