21 County groups condemn Staverton Airport plans

It is difficult to agree on the wording of a letter in a committee and then organise getting signatures - but it is now done and has gone out today to press and councilors - see below the news release and letter - and interestingly many more groups are now interested in signing....

In an unprecedented move, groups from across the County have come together to condemn plans to expand Staverton Airport. Their letter is enclosed below.

Philip Booth, who helped organise the letter and has campaigned for over five years against the airport expansion said: "The failures of the climate talks in Bali to come up with any real action is deeply worrying. Locally twenty-one groups have readily stepped forward to sign this letter: we could have found many more groups. A lot of us find it very hard to understand how we can allow an airport to increase emissions when we know that to avoid catastrophic climate change we all need to cut emissions by 90% or more. What other sectors will need to cut their emissions if we allow the airport to expand?"

Richard Conibere, Coordinator of Gloucestershire Friends of the Earth who lives in Cheltenham said: "Britains' emissions have risen by 19% since 1990. To reduce carbon consumption demands much more radical policies. Airport expansions are incompatible with tackling climate change."

Neil Marshall, of the campaigning group Concerned Residents against Staverton Expansion, said: "As residents we are very concerned about many aspects of the airport expansion like extra traffic, pollution and noise. We welcome the support shown in this letter from groups across the County raising the issue of climate change."

The letter:


Dear Sir/Madam

The undersigned organisations write this open letter to councilors of Gloucester City, Tewkesbury Borough and Cheltenham Borough in response to the disturbing Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on the 17th November and the enormous implications it must have on policy making.

The new report evidences an extraordinary position: CO2 levels in the atmosphere are now higher than at any time over the available 650,000 years of ice core records. The report confirms the worst fears of irreversible changes to the environment, such as massive species loss, collapse of the ice sheets and tropical rainforests and rising sea levels. Such horrors and their impact on communities in all countries are hard to contemplate, but must spur us to action.

We need cuts of 90% or more in CO2 emissions to avoid runaway global warming. Councils have taken a lead by signing the Nottingham Declaration to cut emissions, but a significant step change is needed in policies and actions. This year's floods should be wake up call to all of us.

Staverton Airports' plan to intensify operations and increase CO2 emissions is one example which is completely counter to what is needed. If councils support this they will be ignoring one of the most critical and clear warnings that have ever been given on the perils that the planet faces. Furthermore, this will be done in the face of a deteriorating situation where our country will be struggling to handle the combined economic shocks of climate change and significant oil price increases.

We call on councillors to take a lead to significantly cut our emissions and help build the necessary economic and community resilience to cope with the challenges ahead. We urge you not to support the expansion of Staverton airport.

Yours sincerely.

Neil Marshall, Concerned Residents against Staverton Expansion
Richard Conibere, Cheltenham Friends of the Earth,
Robert Irving, Cirencester Friends of the Earth
Martin Rudland, Forest of Dean Friends of the Earth
Sophie Franklin, Gloucestershire Friends of the Earth Network
Steve Goodchild, Tewkesbury Friends of the Earth
Rene Meek, Gloucestershire Greenpeace
Kevin Lister, Camp Hope Organising Committee
Philip Booth, Gloucestershire Airport Action Group
Ian Lander, Cheltenham Environment Forum
Jimmy Garlick, Plane Stupid, Gloucestershire
Roger Creagh-Osborne, South West Air Action
Carol Mathews, Transition Stroud Transport Group
Sue Clarke, Transition Forest of Dean
Sheila Booth - Stroud Valleys Cycle Campaign
John Mallows, Cheltenham Cycling Campaign
James Beecher, Bicycology
Angela Paine, Shut Oldbury Campaign
Julian Jones, Water 21
Cathy Green, One Tonners
Kate Perkins, People and Planet