Government report supports Staverton campaigners

A government report published today says that the government should completely rethink its aviation policy and shelve plans to expand airports - campaigners opposing the expansion of Gloucestershire Airport have given it a big welcome.

Photo: Monday night in the St George Vaults in Cheltenham talking Staverton, waste and nuclear

The report, from the Government’s own green watchdog, the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), published with the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), has said that the Government must review its policy on expanding the UK’s airports because there is so much controversy and conflict over issues such as the contribution of air travel to climate change and its benefits to the economy. The SDC report concludes that the Government’s 2003 Air Transport White Paper, which backs expansion at local airports such as Staverton, must go back to the drawing board.

Campaigning colleague Neil Marshall from the Concerned residents Against Staverton Expansion (CASE) said: "Though Gloucestershire Airport try to portray their plans as ‘safety measures’ their own business plan makes it clear that more, bigger planes is the aim. The Airport’s scheme is just one stepping stone along their planned route to expansion”

The SDC report ‘Breaking the Holding Pattern’ found that the evidence for airport expansion is heavily flawed over six key areas, in particular:
· accurately calculating the impact on the environment of rising aviation emissions
· the economic benefits of aviation in terms of wealth creation and the impact of tourists both leaving and entering the UK
· how much improvements in aircraft technology can really reduce CO2 emissions from air travel.

Cheltenham Friends of the Earth spokesperson Richard Conibere, who I was with on Monday night talking about the campaign, said: “This report vindicates our arguments that the economic benefits claimed for airport expansion are not based on solid evidence and do not justify the damage to the climate from aviation emissions. At last government advisers are beginning to understand that expanding airports such as Staverton is adding to more money lost as people travel abroad than is brought in by foreign visitors. This growing tourist deficit is taking wealth out of the South West and needs to be included in the debate on airport expansion throughout the region.”

“A report published last week by the World Wildlife Fund also showed that 85% of FTSE-350 companies aim to cut staff flights in the next decade to save both time and money and reduce emissions, and they see videoconferencing as a key tool to enable this – which also slams the argument that business will benefit from more airport expansion. Airlines are constantly promoting new improvements to reduce emissions but refuse to recognise that the sheer growth in numbers of flights cancel out the benefits of any new technology.”

The SDC report said: “While evidence informing these decisions is so widely contested, and the outcomes of important political decisions on addressing aviation’s climate impacts remain uncertain, we believe the risks of decisions in favour of expansion outweigh the possible benefits.”

Notes
1) SDC/IPPR report ‘Breaking the holding pattern’:http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications/downloads/Breaking_the_holding_pattern_report.pdf or exec summary http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications/downloads/sdc_aviation_exec_summ1.pdf 2) WWF report ‘Travelling light’: www.wwf.org/travellinglight 3) Gloucestershire Airport is just one of many Airports in the South West that are attempting to expand. Other airports are Exeter , Bournemouth, Bristol , Plymouth and Newquay. 4) In answer to the Gloucester City and Cheltenham Borough councils’ Joint Airport Scrutiny Working Group’ report that favours the Airport plans, CASE have produced a comprehensive report against the development. See the ‘Gloucestershire Airport Expansion’ report: http://www.case-online.org.uk/docs/JASWG_Response_001.pdf