A REPORT objecting to huge amounts of planes flying low over Burnham has been unanimously commended by Burnham Town Council.

The report was drafted in response to a consultation with Southend Airport over the Standard Instrument Departure Procedures (SIDs) being introduced to replace preferred departure routes (PDRs) to minimise environmental impacts.

The the consultation included borough, local and parish councils across Essex and North Kent, and started on 26 February lasting for 13 weeks, finishing on May 27.

The flyovers have resulted in numerous noise issues for Burnham residents, particularly during the summer period as many spend more time outside.

The report, drafted by John Hitcham, highlighted the noise complaints plus the growing populations of wildlife on Wallasea Island and a diversity of bird life around the Dengie.

The report also supplied a diagram (pictured) showing the amount of arriving and departing flights travelling over the Dengie over a five week period.

The report also acknowledged the ‘finessing’ of Flight Tracks where east bound flights have been altered, there are still too routes over the town causing disturbances.

Mr Hitcham concluded in his report by saying: “We [Burnham Town Council] believe that in recognition of the particular Summer overflying noise factors such as continuance of greater noise blanket from high power climbing flights under 3000 feet and open domestic windows, further mitigation measures are urgently required to reduce negative noise impacts on our residents.”

When the document was discussed at a town council meeting, the council were unanimous in commending the report.

Town Mayor Ron Pratt said: “This is an excellent report and presents the points of this council and the Burnham residents.

“We hope that when presented with this the aviation company will allow for tweaks in their flight path, so until they have considered and responded we should not object to their expansion plans too strongly.”

Councillor Bob Calver for Burnham South Ward added: “They would potentially consider tweaks to their flight patterns, which is something that could be advantageous to the town.”

Speaking about the consultation, Glyn Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Stobart Aviation that owns London Southend Airport said: "These proposed changes are purely about modernising the existing routes aircraft take in order to improve the overall operational and environmental performance of the airspace.

"The number of flights will not increase as a result of the introduction of SIDs and the Noise Abatement Procedures currently in place at London Southend Airport for departing aircraft will not change.”