Update on Stop Staverton expansion campaign

Following the success of Camp Hope there have been various letters in the press for and against airport expansions - no one in my view has satisfactorily made the case for expansion - indeed arguments are extraordinarily week and I find it disturbing that not more are coming out clearly against Stavertons' plans. Lib Dems are especially poor in this matter - they have a national policy against expansions yet here they are seemingly supporting it.

Photo: Local woods - catch the colours before they go!

Anyway I was pleased to get my first letter printed in the Local Gov Association magazine which goes to all councillors - re airport expansions - see it here.

At the recent Environment Scrutiny Committee in Cheltenham Greens got the answer that they are not working on the airport because cabinet have not asked them to look at the issue. It does seem strange but hopefully they might look at it now? Not to do so would surely be deeply embarassing.

Meanwhile a collection of Friends of the Earth and Green party members were at the other Scrutiny meeting in Cheltenham quizzing councillors - below are some of their questions - I don't think the meeting has had anything like this number of questions around an issue in the past...

Also before I get to those questions this Saturday Greens will descend on Bath for their regular SW meeting - the morning session, from 11a.m. to 1p.m., will be an opportunity for anyone interested or involved in campaigning against airport expansion around the south-west. Already some STaverton campaigners are planning to go. There should also be representatives from the campaigns against expansion of Bristol, Bournemouth, Plymouth and Exeter airports, and information from the Newquay campaign group. It will be linked into the European campaign, and the work that Caroline Lucas MEP has done at that level. Do get in touch if anyone reading this is interested in going.

Some of the questions to Scrutiny

Runway movements concentration - Can the Committee quantify the increase in movements, noise and pollution that would be caused if an Instrument Landing System (ILS) is installed? An ILS would concentrate all of the additional ILS training approaches (3200 p/a according to the business plan) plus all of the ILS dependant commercial/business traffic onto the East/West runway instead of distributing it across the three runways. Is the Committee aware that aircraft using the main runway pass over Cheltenham?

ILS Approach Lights - Can the Committee explain why the business plan makes no provision for approach lights for the Instrument Landing System (ILS)? These lights would be required to make the ILS fully functional. The cost of acquiring land for, and installing the approach lights is not accounted for in the business plan. Can the Committee also state how far outside the current airport perimeter the ILS approach lights would be sited if they were to be installed?

Business case - Because the Airport doesn't own the land on which it is based, its borrowings for the propsoed development are liable to exceed the value of its assets. Won't this put the Council in a position where they are obliged to at least partially guarantee the loan and, if so, isn't this exposing council tax payers to unnecessary risk?

Air quality - The County Air Quality Report of 2004 raised Staverton as a particular concern noting that "the growth in air traffic has the potential to impact upon efforts to improve upon, or maintain good, air quality. Any increase in the number of air traffic movements leads to both an increase in aircraft emissions and ground vehicle emissions associated with an airport, such as service vehicles and passenger vehicles." The notion of "growth in air traffic" should not be limited to the number of movements, an increase in the size of the jets and the number of passengers they carry would also lead to an increase in pollution. Where does the Committee stand on the need to avoid pollution, the associated decline in air quality and the inevitable consequences for the health of the Airport's neighbours?

Peak Oil - Peak Oil is the moment when the markets realise that half of all the available oil in the world has been used. Thereafter prices of oil and hence kerosene, petrol, plastic etc will spiral dramatically as demand increasingly outstrips supply. It is reckoned that this phenomenon will be upon us within the foreseeable future and could well be only a few years or even months away. The idea enjoys the support of numerous academics and former oil industry workers – consider the book ‘Half Gone’ by Jeremy Leggett or Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) at http://www.peakoil.net Peak Oil could have dramatic impacts on the ability of the Airport to conduct its business. Will these potential impacts be considered when analyzing the feasibility of the business case for the Airport development?

International services - I understand that some Councillors have expressed the view that, whilst they support the Airport’s proposed development, they would be opposed to the Airport developing international services. If the developments proceed then the usable length of runway, will be increased. This increase will be sufficient to be utilised by the larger jets that could be used for European services. Given recent press and radio coverage the desire of the Airport to introduce such services is undeniable. Does the Committee support the introduction of international services or, otherwise, having facilitated their introduction by supporting the Airport development, how do they propose to prevent them?