THE roar of airliners overhead may become a more common occurrence in Waltham Forest after plans were revealed to change flight-paths over north east London.

While the Government is poised to decide on whether Heathrow Airport can build a third runway, there are plans afoot to increase the capacity of exisiting runways by allowing 60,000 more aircrafts to use Heathrow each year.

Households under flight-paths in Leyton, Leytonstone and Walthamstow will be affected if a dramatic re-design of the flight paths is approved which will see many planes flying lower over the area.

Leytonstone resident and Green Party member Bill Measure, 61, of Richmond Road, is aghast at the plans and believes the money should instead be spent on building a high-speed rail network.

He said: “I think we have enough planes already. One only has to sit in the garden in the summer and hear planes coming out of several airports. The sky is so crowded over East London, I’m worried there will be a collision - as well as all the issues about carbon footprint and the impact on the environment.”

Last week the Guardian reported that Leyton MP Harry Cohen is equally concerned about the number of near misses by flights over North East London and the effect of airport expansions on both residents and the environment.

Modelled on other UK and international airports with the same system, the flight-path changes will be made to accommodate a “mixed mode” use of runway, allowing aircraft to take off and land on the same runway - increasing the movements by an average of eight an hour.

The mixed mode is intended to be a temporary measure to maximise the use of the two runways until a third runway is built.

The flight-path changes are outlined in a public consultation document produced by the Department for Transport last year.However, John Stewart, chairman of ClearSkies, which represents people living under Heathrow’s flightpaths, said he believes the plans have been deliberately “buried” by the Government to avoid a public backlash.

He said: “We think the Government has tried to bury the bad news and they have done it because they know there will be real opposition in many areas some distance from Heathrow.

“There are indications that the Government will give the green-light to both the third runway and the mixed mode runways. This will simply mean a lot more planes. At the moment planes approach much further out of London, but now they will be going in a semi-circle around North East London.”

It is believed that the Government could make a decision on the third runway and mixed mode use of runway as early as next week.

If BAA is given approval to introduce mixed mode, it is expected to be implemented quickly. However, the Conservatives have said that they would scrap all plans for a third runway if they were re-elected at the next general election.