Join Camp Hope to fight Gloucestershire's Airport expansion

Saturday 20th Oct and Sunday 21st October

Staverton Airport is applying for planning permission to extend its runway. If the extension goes ahead, it will allow new services to be introduced to European cities.

A mini climate camp is now planned following several meetings - along the lines of the inspirational Climate Camp at Heathrow. Land has been located land near the airport and the location and logistics to get there will be made available shortly.

During the weekend, there will be workshops on the Saturday and peaceful protests against the airport on the Sunday. Workshops and discussions start at 13:00pm with support from local Green party councillors (including myself) and Stroud MP David Drew.

For details contact: Kevin.lister@btopenworld.com

Three places to get up to date re Camp Hope plans:
http://campforhopeatstaverton.blogspot.com/
http://www.airportwatch.org.uk/news/detail.php?art_id=822
www.myspace.com/campofhope

Regular blog readers will have seen some of the outrageous claims made by the airport (see many previous posts by clicking on 'Airport' label below). Indeed the airport has so far failed to respond to the charges about its expansion plans and its climate change impacts and continues to make special pleading to politicians - in its political briefing document the airport even rejects climate change as being man-made from greenhouse gases!

The airport's accountability is a joke - it beggars belief that, when asked by Green party members in Cheltenham about the airport's climate change impacts, Cheltenham Borough Council's scrutiny committee simply referred the questions to the airport to answer. The latest round of scrutiny questions have also elicited a deeply worrying state of affairs amongst councilors who are meant to be looking at this development - I've just looked through all the answers from questions raised by members of the public - the councillors are at least are seeking more info from the airport but did not appear to understand peak oil or it's implications on aviation or the local economy.

In the press airport supporters have also ridiculed Tewkesbury councillors who will decide the airport's planning applications and made exaggerated claims about the "massive" worth of the airport - plus repeated the scare stories of development happening on the airport site if expansion isn't permitted. This last point is deeply ironic when the airport is also apparently seeking the release of land around the Staverton area for business development - ie more sheds and infrastructure to accompany the airport expansion.....but enough I've covered all this in other places....join us at the camp!

One other project we are looking at is to send a questionnaire to all householders around the airport - this will be done through an independent organisation to avoid leading questions or accusations of bias - this is important if it is to be a meaningful piece of research that really looks at what local people think about the proposed expansion.

Meanwhile a friend pointed me to this game re climate change - haven't played yet but I understand he's also emailed all Cheltenham Borough councilors suggesting they look at it before making a decision re Staverton:
www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/climate_challenge

See also flaws exposed in Cornwall County Council case for Newquay Airport at: http://www.groundswellcornwall.org/newquayairport