A NEW taxiway for planes at Southend Airport has been blamed for the deteriorating health of an 80-year-old.

Families living in Wells Avenue have complained about the introduction of a new route around the airport which runs alongside their gardens.

Halstead Gazette:

Back yard - the picture shows how close to the garden planes go

Halstead Gazette:

View? - an Easy Jet flight skirts the couple's garden 

Donna Smith, 56, says her mother Doreen has lived there since the Sixties and suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

She said: “Mum can’t even sit outside, the fumes are too much and she gets really breathless because of it.

“The airport are not considering the impact on people’s health. Not just now but for the future also.

“The airport is great for Southend but its the safety of the residents that just has not been considered.

“She used to love living here, and the grandchildren used to love watching the little planes take off when it was a flying school.

“But they have to be considerate - I don’t know why they chose to use the taxiway feet away from the houses. They must have another way.”

Other long term residents also say their lives are being made a misery by the noise and fumes.

June Carr said: “The airport was a small municipal airport and we have lived here for 28 years in harmony.

“Since Stobart took over, it has expanded beyond recognition, and in the words of Glyn Jones, they want five million passengers by 2020 and ten million by 2023.

“Our properties are about 160 metres from the runway six and at the nearest point, 40 metres from the Charlie Taxiway.

“EasyJet and Flybe, and now the arrival of Ryanair is unbearable. The carcinogenic fumes and pollution bellows right onto to us, the smell is obnoxious and dangerous we can even taste it some days and it gets into our houses.

“We can’t let the children play in the garden. Our quality of life has gone, as well as our privacy as all the passengers can see us.

“We have all made our houses our homes, and now they are destroyed.

“People say why live near an airport but the same council who agreed the plans for this massive expansion gave permission for the houses to be built here as the airport was a small aerodrome, not one for ten million passengers.

“It’s killing us being 40 metres away, it’s like living on a runway.” Rose Rapp, 69, added: “We are not anti-airport, but the 400 per cent increase since we moved here, and the taxiway are ridiculous.”

A spokesman for the airport said: “We appreciate the Wells Avenue properties were built close to the Charlie Taxiway, and are actively engaging with those residents and investigating measures to reduce noise.

"The airport has ambitious plans to grow, and will continue to work closely with the CAA to ensure the airport remains safe and environmentally responsible."

Halstead Gazette:

Airport - resident Janet Marchant and a tail wing behind

Halstead Gazette: