No moves on helicopter landing site despite complaints

SUMMER PESTS:The Department of Environment says it has no plans to restrict where helicopters can land, despite growing numbers of complaints about the noise and disturbance they cause.

A spokesman said it felt there was no need to issue additional policy guidelines to An Bord Pleanála, which has adjudicated in a number of planning disputes over landings sites for helicopters in recent years. The department is to keep the matter under review.

The Irish Aviation Authority confirmed it had received complaints about the operation of helicopters, but said there was nothing it could do so long as they were flown in accordance with safety rules.

According to the IAA, a helicopter may be landed and can take off from any safe place provided the operators have the permission of the landowner. Most choppers can fly only in daylight hours and are supposed to fly no lower than 150 metres, or 300 metres over built-up areas.

The number of helicopters licensed in the Republic has soared over the past decade with many of our super-wealthy opting to beat traffic jams by taking to the skies.

The IAA says 149 choppers are currently licensed, compared with just 34 in 1995. In addition, some owners have their craft registered in the US or the UK, so the total number of helicopters is more than 220.

Helicopter use is particularly heavy at race courses and luxury golf clubs, and the busiest period, for obvious climatic reasons, is the summer. This year, 90 helicopters were licensed to fly into Galway airport during race week alone.

However, complaints about noise from helicopters have grown in tandem with their popularity. Objectors to plans for a new grandstand at the Curragh racecourse have cited air pollution and nuisance from helicopter movements in their objection to Bord Pleanála, while neighbours of the K Club, also in Co Kildare, have also vented their dissatisfaction about the frequency of flights.

In a number of landmark cases, Bord Pleanála has ruled that planning permission is required for the regular use of land for landing helicopters. Last June, it refused permission to Limerick businessman Noel Kearney for a helipad in his back garden. Property developer Bernard McNamara has also been told that he needs planning permission to land his chopper on private open ground adjacent to Booterstown bird marsh in Dublin.

Another prominent businessman, car dealer Bill Cullen, has appealed Kerry County Council's refusal of retention permission for his helipad at Muckross to the board.

Bord Pleanála says there have been 11 appeals over helicopter landing pads in the last year. Of these, four were granted and six refused, while one was withdrawn.

The IAA says helicopter owners should be conscious of the upset their craft may cause. It says injury to livestock or other animals caused by helicopter noise may constitute damage to property in law and could result in legal action.

Some houseowners have turned to the internet in search of advice. A Tullamore man who believes a low-flying private helicopter is using his house as a landmark to turn off the main road says he does not know who to complain to. "I thought about spelling out 'feck off' in daffodils, but that would only work in April."