Move football pitch

I REFER to the response provided by P. J. Melson of British Forces (South China Morning Post, June 29), in reply to my original letter on the subject of helicopter noise at the temporary landing point in the grounds of the British Military Hospital affecting the residents of Wylie Court (Post, June 23).

As he states it does not answer all my queries. In fact, it does not really answer any of them. Perhaps Captain Melson feels that goal-posts are immovable objects.

Move the football pitch to the other end of the field and land helicopters as far from Wylie Court as possible please - a fairly simple request and one that reduces the length of the ambulance journey for injured passengers. Given that the residents of Wylie Court are disturbed in their sleep about five nights out of seven, it seems a fairly easy step to implement.

I fully recognise the priority needs of the injured and would have thought that if the hospital and other authorities also recognised this they would have sought, found and brought into operation a landing point within the grounds of Queen Elizabeth Hospital and not one across a busy road some distance away. If the relevant authority cannot locate such a point perhaps it should consider removing the parking which currently occupies a seemingly suitable area within the hospital grounds only a stone's throw from the casualty unit.

Alternatively, the Planning Department has the responsibility to carry out site searches for uses such as this and could no doubt do so if the proper request was made and relevant information provided. Additionally, now that we know that the site of the British Military Hospital and the adjacent quarters will be returned to the Government for re-development, it will be necessary in any case to seek an alternative and presumably permanent landing site for the helicopters.

Rather than delay this search any longer and perhaps lose existing opportunities, it would be in the interests of the injured, the medical staff and the residents of Wylie Court for a permanent location to be found as soon as possible and brought into use with adequate consideration given to the environmental, safety and other impacts.

I still await a response from the Environmental Protection Department on the noise implications of the existing site and whether there is any breach of the Noise Control Ordinance and as a result an actionable offence.

L. N. PARKER Kowloon