I was glad to see the issue of the Sea King helicopters in your Oct. 22 issue. I have resided in North Saanich for 11 years and it does seem there has been a crescendo of Sea King activity in that time, to the point where it is significantly and negatively affecting the peace of mind of property owners.
Given that the DND receives over a dozen formal, written complaints annually, and no doubt numerous phone complaints daily, I respectfully suggest that Mr. Arndt might want to exercise a little more consideration and empathy to the many people affected by said noise.
The helicopters do not enter and exit the airport in only a quick and efficient straight line, rather they are often seen doing circuits over the area and I am continually perplexed at how buzzing the rooftops of residential North Saanich is an integral part of training.
I understand that flying a long distance to a remote area to conduct training would be unreasonable and costly, but is Mr. Arndt absolutely sure that another appropriate location isn’t available not too far away, or at least elsewhere at the airport, other than directly adjacent to a large number of homes?
The large number of people voicing concern is not a case of “moving near an airport and complaining about the noise,” nor is anyone demanding that they stop or go away; rather, it is about mitigating this very real disturbance and source of deleterious stress for many.
From what I read in the article, it doesn’t appear that any real effort by the DND has been put towards mitigating this.
C. Franks
North Saanich
