Syerston residents concerned over Royal Air Force Red Arrows' impact on community and environmental effects on Newark, Southwell and Bingham areas

Residents have expressed concerns over the impact the Red Arrows will have on their community when they begin practising from a nearby airfield next week.

A synchronised pair of the brightly coloured Hawk T1 jets from the iconic aerobatic display team will soon be flying high above Nottinghamshire for practice flights when they make a temporary airspace move to RAF Syerston from Monday.

The Red Arrows are now based at RAF Waddington following the closure of their previous operating base at RAF Scampton in September, as part of cost-cutting measures by the Ministry of Defence.

However, Waddington is an active airfield and so in order to safely carry out low-flying training, the Red Arrows must find alternative airspace in which the practice.

As a result, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted a temporary airspace change over RAF Syerston from January 9 until April 17.

This four-month testing period will allow the MOD to assess the suitability of Syerston as a permanent training base as well as to gauge the reaction.

Syerston residents have raised concerns, based on previous experiences when displays were held at the airfield.

Parish Meeting chairman Geoffrey Hibbert said: "Enthusiasts turn up in considerable numbers, park around the airfield, up Longhedge Lane and have in the past left considerable amounts of litter behind.

"But this won't just be now and then, it could potentially be every week day for four months.

“I’d just like to make sure that communities like ours are not carrying the costs.”

Pete Moyes lives on Longhedge Lane and previously has been left to deal with the parking issues and litter left behind by enthusiasts and spectators.

Peter said: "We have lived here for the past 12 years and in the last two years the Red Arrows have done a closed display.

"On the day of the display last year, Longhedge Lane had cars from one end right to the bottom, parked nose to tail on both side of the road and where they couldn't park they blocked the road.

"The old Fosse Road also had cars parked up with people watching the air display for most of the day.

"They ended up urinating in my hedgerow, deficating and leaving toilet paper behind, left litter along the lane and basically caused chaos.

"There are only two houses on the lane and my neighbour has carers come, but they couldn't get access up the lane, which has happened now twice."

At other airfields where the Red Arrows have spent a lot of time measures have been put in place to mitigate any issues.

Pete would like similar actions to be taken at Syerston, saying: "Anyone that follows the Red Arrows knows what happens at RAF Scampton and RAF Waddington is that there is a constant stream of viewing whenever they're training.

"They have designated viewing areas with litter bins and even a coffee shop. It's all set up for the people viewing the training but what they're proposing to do here at Syerston is to just let them come here, fly and disappear and let us suffer the aftermath.

"If I'm to accept that there is nothing I can do about them flying here, then the bare minimum they could do to mitigate those issues for us is to work with the Nottinghamshire County Council highways people to put a restricted access traffic regulation order in place on the lane.

"Then no one will be allowed to come up the lane except for visitors. I think it would stop the majority of people, but if they then abuse that they become subject to a fixed penalty notice. So there are other things that we can do such as put yellow lines in place like they do at Waddington."

Pete also made the point that the sight of the Red Arrows could pose a distraction to road users on the nearby A46.

He said: "The manoeuvre that they are going to do where two jets fly at each other at a closing speed of 700mph requires a leading distance of at least a mile and a half on either side of the runway.

"What you're going to get is traffic driving along the A46 suddenly seeing to their left and their right that there is a Red Arrow flying alongside them.

"They will be flying there three times a day and I think what you're going to get is distracted drivers not paying attention to other road users, which is likely to lead to accidents. All in all it's not safe for people living in this area."

Other residents have expressed concerns over the effects that low flying jets will have on livestock and wildlife.

Eco-florist and specialist flower grower Fiona Nicholass, has lived in Syerston for 24 years and is no stranger to the sights and sounds of military aircraft but had concerns about the environmental impact of the Red Arrows regularly appearing over the small village.

She said: "I grew up in Kent just down the road from Manston airport and so I grew up with the Red Arrows, they were a part of my childhood and I'm very used to them.

"You don't hear them coming until they fly past and they can give you quite a startle. They fly across so low so you can't see them coming and then of course you get the sound of them as well.

"The RAF base is a glider base and obviously they won't have the same environmental impact that jets will.

"So the concerns from my point of view are the pollution which will have an impact on our air quality and the ecosystems that are here.

"I'm also concerned about the noise impact as well because they're terrifying, they're incredibly noisy and it can be quite frighten for humans, livestock and horses.

"It's an incredibly equine area around here and every village has at least two or three horse-keepers. If it scares a horse while someone is on it, that is a safety issue .

"Then there is also the wildlife too, because it could have an impact on the deer, owls and bats too because it's obviously not a natural sound."

The RAF have been approached for comment on the concerns.