Airport bird strikes claim
Aug 17 2006 By Dave Black, The Journal
A lake created by a North-East businessman in the grounds of his luxury home will increase the risk of bird strikes on aircraft using Newcastle Airport, an expert claimed yesterday.
The one-acre water feature dug by Allan Rankin at his mansion in Darras Hall, Ponteland, is big enough to attract a variety of "hazardous" waterfowl, including grey heron, swans, geese and ducks, it was said.
Baron Rochard - a national expert in aviation bird hazard control - said increased waterfowl movements in the area would heighten the threat of birds colliding with aircraft.
Mr Rochard, a director of consultants Airfield Wildlife Management, said the lake would increase the bird strike hazard at Newcastle Airport in conjunction with other existing and future wetlands in the area. He was giving evidence on the second day of a public inquiry which will decide whether Mr Rankin - the former boss of bar chain Ultimate Leisure - can keep his lake or have to reinstate the land.
The water feature - which he wants to develop in the grounds of his Cotehill Farm mansion - is opposed by Newcastle Airport and Castle Morpeth Council on the grounds that it threatens air safety.
Mr Rochard, a Civil Aviation Authority consultant, was giving evidence to support airport bosses in their opposition to Mr Rankin's lake, which is 4km from the airport. Yesterday he told Government inspector Alan Upward that the airport had already had to take action to counter the bird strike threat from grey herons and mallard and had opposed numerous wetland developments planned nearby.
Mr Rochard said Mr Rankin's lake would provide a new habitat for wildfowl, which were highly mobile and flew more in the dark than during the day.
Airport runways were also "magnets" for wildfowl and other birds, which often mistook them for water and tried to land on them. He said mallards were the main species involved in bird strikes on aircraft.
"Every airport lives with a background bird strike hazard. What they must not do is allow this hazard to increase," he added.
The inquiry has been told by another bird strike expert, Dr Roy Armstrong, that any risk posed by Mr Rankin's lake can be made acceptable by the implementation of a bird hazard management plan.
Mr Upward will now study the evidence and decide whether to allow Mr Rankin's appeal against the council's enforcement action.
* Bird strikes on aircraft using Newcastle Airport rose from 58 in 2004 to 97 last year, the inquiry was told.
Larger and more hazardous birds such as swans were being attracted and new areas of surface water, such as Mr Rankin's lake, inevitably increased the risk of strikes on aircraft.
Planning, development and facilities manager, Graeme Mason said: "Our concern is that there is no increase in the bird strike risk overall. Cotehill Farm is an area where we would not want an area of open water."
