'People have to understand that we do need to train, and we are going to train'

IT is at the heart of its community. Residents in the Vale of York have lived alongside the pilots and the RAF station at Linton-on-Ouse for more than 60 years, through war and peace.

Its contribution is massive. The base spends £8 million in the local economy, and nearly 1,000 civilians and servicemen spend a considerable chunk of their £20 million wages in the community.

It has trained some of the RAF's finest combat pilots. During the Second World War, it suffered the second highest losses in Bomber Command.

Now, alongside the sound of the Tucanos which start and finish their flight routes around the villages of Linton, Newton-on-Ouse, Tollerton and Aldwark, there is a rising tide of angry voices.

You cannot train pilots without making noise. The Tucano is meant to handle like a jet engine and, despite its propellers, it also has a turbine engine.

But the countryside is associated with peace and quiet, and where Tucanos fly over this part of North Yorkshire, that peace is interrupted by the noise of engines overhead.

Protest groups have been formed. Letters written. Petitions started. Anger is focused on the decision to alter the routes which the RAF takes to teach its students to fly.

Arguments over plane noise are nothing new. People living in Alne, Aldwark and Thorpe Underwood have complained persistently about aircraft noise since 1995.

In April, everything changed. Hambleton District Council, in consultation with its colleagues in Harrogate and the RAF, agreed to a trial of new circuits.

It was meant to find a solution to balance and spread the flying load. Since 1995, the flight circuits have been directed to the north, north-west and south of the base. The April trial shifted nearly half of them to the east and south.

The complaints from Aldwark ceased. The complaints from Linton-on-Ouse and the surrounding villages began.

The RAF's position is clear. It will fly where it is asked to fly.

Wing commander Colin Woods understands the concerns. "Of course it concerns us (the protests). Not just as RAF Linton-on-Ouse but because we want to be good neighbours. We pride ourselves on trying to be just that.

"We treat anything like this extremely seriously. The only thing we will not do is compromise safety. We will listen to whatever is said. But this is taxpayers' money and we are making sure we are spending it as effectively as possible.

"People have to understand that we do need to train, and we are going to train."

When you pass through the checkpoint at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, you are struck by just how big the base is. Sprawling barracks, two runways: it could exist as a village in its own right.

It is the only airbase in Britain where pilots for the air force and Navy are trained. A student at Linton-on-Ouse can be flying sorties over Iraq just two years after arriving.

Vast hangars house the planes while, in other buildings, engineers overhaul and maintain others ensuring they are fit to fly.

In classrooms, students pore over flight-plan charts. A list of places to avoid and areas where the pilots cannot go are ringed, circled and pinned into maps of the region. I counted hundreds.

In the air traffic control tower, radar experts leave nothing to chance. Screens fix plots on every aircraft in the sky.

Pilot safety is what everything at Linton is geared towards. They have been criticised.

People They say planes fly directly over Linton-on-Ouse Primary School. All of which, they claim, makes flying higher risk, with more noise.

Squadron leader Paul Green, senior air traffic control officer, said: "We don't necessarily feel that people perceive there to be more planes in the sky, but with the circuit trials, they see them in different parts of the sky.

"There are national procedures that we follow and these are driving force behind the airfield."

Flying time has actually been rationed in recent years. In 1992, 36,000 hours of flight training took place at RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Last year, that had dropped by a third to 24,000 hours.

This will reduce further from January 31.

But there's anger among the villages.

Alne and Aldwark feel they have shouldered the brunt of the noise for many years.

In Linton-on-Ouse, residents say they are upset that a "minority" of people have been able to influence political opinion and bring disruption to their lives. The RAF is caught in the middle.

Last week, a new protest group was formed to put pressure on Hambleton District Council to revert to the old route routine.

Safety And Fairness Alliance (SAFA) believe the new circuits being flown bring greater risk.

Robert Fox, of SAFA, said: "Our opposition is at no stage to do with the RAF. We are 100 per cent behind them. Our issue is with Hambleton District Council," he said.

"We are concerned about the decision-making process. We can't understand how they can change the circuits.

"The council has to decide whether to revert to the original circuits, or make the trial permanent. It's our intention to make it clear what the weight of feeling is against that."

Derek Jauncey, parish council chairman for Linton-on-Ouse, agrees. "We are 100 per cent for the RAF. What we don't accept is that a small group of people can pressure a council. Previously, aircraft never flew over any of the villages. Now they fly directly over our school. We love the RAF, so many of our jobs depend on it, but we feel that Hambleton District Council has let us down."

In Alne and Aldwark, they don't agree. The Noise Liaison Group, which has campaigned to return to a fair spread of flights, said it would be not be fair for the trial to be reversed.

Clare Brooks, group chairwoman, rejected claims that those objecting to the noise were a "small minority" and said they encompassed concerned villagers in Tollerton, Youlton, Thorpe Underwood, Alne, Aldwark, Great and Little Ouseburn.

She said: "It would be hard for anyone to say it was fair.

"Why should people less than a mile from the base consider they have such a special relationship with the RAF that they are exempt from noise?

"If they truly supported the RAF they would be prepared to take their fair share along with everyone else.

"We built up a careful dialogue with the RAF and that led them to agree to try and find alternative circuit paths."

A return to the old ways would be devastating, says Dr Gudrun Gaudian, a parish councillor at Alne."We have been overflown a lot since 1995 and we are happy with the situation as it is," she said.

"All we want is fair distribution. If the circuits were to revert it would be really devastating and disappointing.

"It has to be dealt with on a geographical spread and, since the trial, things are noticeably different."

There's a lot of finger pointing. But is anyone really to blame? And what can be done? Whatever decision is taken, some residents will be upset. But the RAF must train its pilots. That's the problem facing the politicians. Arthur Barker, leader of Hambleton District Council, says the authority cannot win, whatever it does. He said: "We are damned if we do, and we're damned if we don't.

"At this moment, we have an open mind. No decision has been taken. But we will have to form an opinion. I know that will be made openly and transparently, and it is not going to please everyone. But we will try to make the best decision we can."

Updated: 10:20 Monday, January 17, 2005