THANK YOU!

Well – we succeeded! Today, the Trial of TUTUR will end two months early. Thanks to a concerted and determined campaign among many of us - all ordinary residents - we have won two months of respite from the noise and the air pollution, and the disturbance to our lives that was the TUTUR flight path experiment. We also won an assurance from the airport that the trial will not continue until a full public consultation has taken place. In the few weeks since we formed SEAT, together, we have: • started a Facebook group: Say No To Edinburgh Trial Flight Path • set up an email address for people to contact us: stopedinburghairspacetrial.com • devised a logo for our campaign • started and supported petitions signed by thousands of people, both on paper and online • helped hundreds of people generate thousands of complaints to Edinburgh Airport, the CAA and our politicians • successfully lobbied Community Councils, local authority Councillors, MSPs and MPs • printed and distributed 4000 leaflets • created campaign T shirts which we have worn with pride • made placards • demonstrated outside the Scottish Parliament • briefed politicians and many journalists on our side of the story • held Edinburgh Airport to account in a packed public meeting • shared information with other Airport campaign groups elsewhere in the UK • learned an enormous amount about the aviation industry and the CAA Above all we have exposed the real reasons behind the TUTUR flight path experiment – it is not about airport expansion, Edinburgh airport could run more flights on the existing flight paths if they wanted to as, according to CAA figures, they operated 15% more flights in 2007. This is about increasing the available take off slots, so that the airport is more valuable for when the airport owners – the venture capitalist company, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) - inevitably decide to sell their asset. This is Profit over People, regardless of the impact on health, environment or social cohesion. All achieved by a small group of determined volunteers and the huge weight of public opinion that rose up in sheer outrage at what was imposed on all of us. So What Next? The trial may be over, but the battle continues. Despite Gordon Dewar saying at the public meeting in Broxburn on 16th September that there were no plans to implement a permanent route, the following day the airport issued a statement signed by him saying that the intention is to revisit “a version of TUTUR” and “we intend to consult on this route in early 2016” We do not know exactly what the airport might propose next, or when. We do know that they have promised, publicly, not to proceed with any further proposals without a full public consultation. However, given the manner the airport has handled the issue so far, we remain sceptical about what may lie ahead Our Steering Group intends to continue to meet on a regular basis, with the aim of pulling together as much of our own evidence as we can to present to the CAA. While our MSPs, particularly Fiona Hyslop, Neil Findlay and Alison Johnstone have been very helpful in making the residents’ case, airspace is a matter reserved for Westminster. Our MPs will therefore also be vital in helping us all make our case effectively. What you can do: Hannah Bardell MP for Livingston and Martyn Day MP for Linlithgow and Falkirk East have advised us that they are working together on behalf of residents. If you have not already done so, please contact your MP and tell them how you have been affected by the trial and what you would like to see happening next. Their email addresses are: hannah.bardell.mp@parliament.uk and martyn.day.mp@parliament.uk Please copy in our email address too – stopedinburghairspacetrial@hotmail.com Open Meeting with Martyn Day MP There is an open meeting happening with Martyn Day MP on Friday 30th October at 4.30pm in Blackness Community Hall EH49 7NP. Everyone welcome. A similar picture elsewhere in the UK Flight trials are also happening at other airports in the UK, with a similarly devastating affect on communities. If you are interested in learning more about other airport campaigns, take a look at airport watch: http://www.airportwatch.org.uk/ How to contact the SEAT Campaign Our facebook group page will remain open, and our email address will be monitored by volunteers from our steering group, so you can contact us there. SEAT - a great success so far, our next job is to stop the flight path becoming a permanent blight on our homes, our lives and our families!