Campaigners claim court ruling will ground Bristol Airport expansion plans
Campaigners opposed to the £150 million expansion of Bristol Airport claim the scheme should be thrown out in the light of a High Court ruling.
Anti-expansion groups say a judge's ruling that the Government should rethink its support for a proposed third runway for Heathrow in the light of its own policy on climate change will also apply to plans to develop Lulsgate.
They say the decision by Lord Justice Carnwath throws the whole 2003 Aviation White Paper – the policy that called for expansion of Heathrow, Bristol and dozens of other airports around the country – into doubt.
Bristol Airport bosses have rejected the claims and insist the High Court case is "very specific" to Heathrow.
Sitting in London yesterday, Lord Justice Carnwath said the Government's policy support for a third runway, made in 2003 and confirmed in January last year, will need to be looked at again in the light of the Climate Change Act 2008, which sets targets for emissions.
The judge said he was not able to hold that the points raised amounted to a "show-stopper – in the sense that the only rational response would be to abandon the whole project at this stage" and refused to quash the Government's decision to "confirm policy support" for a third runway.
But the coalition which brought the case insisted it had left the Government's policy "in tatters" – and campaigners trying to stop Bristol's expansion claim the ruling means the planning application, currently with North Somerset Council, is now a non-starter.
The application, due to be decided within weeks by the council's planning and regulatory committee, includes multi-storey car parks, a larger terminal and new administration building.
Passenger numbers, currently six million a year, are expected to rise to 10 million by 2020.
Yesterday Stop Bristol Airport Expansion spokesman Jeremy Birch said: "We've always argued that the expansion of Bristol Airport made a nonsense of trying to tackle climate change and that the economic case was flawed.
"The judge stated that the economic case has changed radically since the 2003 White Paper, particularly due to the costs of climate change, and so it can no longer be used as the basis of policy, and should be fully revised and consulted upon.
"North Somerset Council must now reject the plans to expand Bristol Airport.
"The reasons given by the judge for Heathrow are all equally valid in the case of Bristol Airport."
Environment group Greenpeace said the whole of Government policy needed to be "radically over-hauled" in the light of the UK's climate change laws. Spokeswoman Anna Jones said the Government should shelve all airport expansion plans now.
But Bristol Airport spokesman James Gore said: "The decision by Lord Justice Carnwath is very specific to the circumstances at Heathrow, the country's largest airport, currently handling more than 66 million passengers each year. Heathrow's third runway is a question of national importance and acute political controversy."
He added: "Heathrow is around 10 times the size of Bristol Airport in terms of passenger volume and Bristol's proposals do not include a second runway or even an extension of the existing runway."
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis reaffirmed the Government's support for expansion, saying he welcomed the High Court's ruling, which did not rule out a new runway, but called for a review "of all relevant policy issues, including the impact of climate change policy".
9 Comments
by Jo, Clifton
Sunday, March 28 2010, 2:09PM
“After 12 years in the UK I haveto travel to London every time I want to go and see my family in south of Sweden (flying to Copenhagen, Denmark which is closest airport) which is a real pain in the neck. It could take 4 hours from door do door but because I haveto go all the way to London it takes forever on the motor way and with possible congestion I need to book an earlier coach just in case wasting hours of my time... With the Bristol airport expansion flights to Scandinavia will be cheaper and more accessible, not only for the 2500 Scandinavians living in the South West but for all the business travellers and tourists. And imagine all the tourist that will travel the other way i.e. coming the the SW to tourist around here = money for the UK! It's not rocket science....just get on with it and expand!”
by Roger Rogers, Bristol
Sunday, March 28 2010, 1:31PM
“And in the meantime,
WE DO NOT NEED THE BRISTOL AIRPORT EXPANSION......
It's big enough already”
by Roger Rogers, Bristol
Sunday, March 28 2010, 1:29PM
“"or different cultures" WIll
Will, we in Britain are blessed with many different cultures from countries all over the world... Britain is probably the most culturally diverse country in the world.. And we should be proud of such a Britain.”
by Will, Bristol
Sunday, March 28 2010, 1:14PM
“These arguments to stop expansion do not stack up and Stephen Williams MP will not have my vote unless he reverses his opposition to the airport expansion. The airport brings money into Bristol, brings jobs and allows holidayers to use less CO2 going to a London airport. People will go on holiday abroad. Sorry Steve people actually want to see the sun. We cannot reverse the last 35 years and turn the staycautioning into a long term trend. The cat is out of the bag now. People now realise that although England is beautiful and many do holiday in the UK we cannot compete on weather or different cultures. Choice is the key word here. People can choose where they wish to spend time. Why not let them travel from Bristol.”
by Fiona, Bristol
Sunday, March 28 2010, 12:32PM
“'Steve' you are obviously very ill informed - Bristol Airport does not just cater for people going on holiday if you looked at the stats charter flights from the airport are in decline. You are acting like a luddite - the airport generates jobs & wealth for the region. All this CO2 crap that is rolled out by people who want to curtail others right to fly - what do you suggest we do all go by horse and cart. If you stop the expansion this will not lead to people flying less, they will drive to other airports or fly via a European hub. Grow up!”
by Steve, Central Bristol
Saturday, March 27 2010, 11:34PM
“"Why can¿t we travel within pur own region and save money, CO2 and bring jobs and prosperity to the South West??"
Er, because it won't. For the same reason that making car travel easier by building lots of big roads near residential areas has massively increased the amount of car travel people do. It's not clear to me what jobs the south west is getting by people taking wads of money out of the country to spend on a Greek island.”
by James, South West
Saturday, March 27 2010, 1:22PM
“As usual the UK is cutting off its nose to spite its face. It complies with all EU regulations whilst the likes of France pick and choose which regulations to obey.
Germany is to enlarge its largest airport at Frankfurt by nearly a third so it will become larger than Heathrow and this has been approved by a German court.
China is building new airports at breakneck speed.
People like Liberal Council Leader Barbara Janke oppose the expansion of Bristol Airport then act in a completely hypocritical manner. She used it to fly to a climate change conference in Denmark recently and to fly on a jolly with easyJet from Lulsgate to Filton to celebrate one hundred years of Bristol aviation. Tory MP Liam Fox is another. He is against Bristol Airport expansion yet jets around the world more than many.
It's the same with many of the opponents living near Bristol Airport. Many are not traditional village families going back generations but incomers who commute daily to Bristol clogging the A 38 at rush hour and creating the very carbon emissions and traffic congestion that they complain about in their opposition to airport expansion.
Bristol Airport is a big success and is so looked on in the aviation industry. Despite the gleeful comments of SBAE and its fellow travellers about Bristol Airport's loss of passengers in the recession, the airport actually performed far better than most other UK airports during the downturn and is leading the recovery. Whilst most airport passenger numbers were still down in February, many in double digit percentage figures, Bristol was up 14%.
Bristol is the UK's ninth busiest airport and the third busiest English provincial airport, after Manchester and Birmingham.
This shows the demand that exists. Its Achilles heel is its inability to benefit from this success and meet the increasing demand, and in so doing benefit its customers both business and leisure, by enlarging its infrastructure.
Before anyone says it, Filton would have been a better site and location but that opportunity has gone and will not come back. Blame the politicians of yesteryear for that.
Lulsgate, despite its physical disadvantages, has been a more than adequate substitute and is now the only game in town, so people who want even better air links from Bristol (and they are very good already compared with many regional airports) should support its expansion plans as vociferously as the opponents try to shout them down.”
by Will, Bristol
Saturday, March 27 2010, 11:30AM
“Can someone please explain to me what is going on???
Why it is a good idea for Citizens of the South West of England to use CO2 emissions travelling to the London airports, some of which are nearly 8 hours drive from parts or Cornwall, so they can get access to flight to other parts of Europe and the rest of the World?
Why can¿t we travel within pur own region and save money, CO2 and bring jobs and prosperity to the South West?? Unbelievable!!!
Now that Bristol is not on the High Speed 2 project to bring superfast trains to the UK, we will be left behind by the other region cities who have much better access to trade routes than us. This will mean people will relocate their businesses elsewhere or choose other cities over Bristol when relocating government departments out of London Let¿s all go Green Party mad shall we??! Let¿s follow their manifesto and have zero economic growth for the next 50 years and reduce our population to 20 million, slash our living standards, eat lentils for dinner every night and roll the clock back 250 years when feudal society existed!!”
by Juliet, Bristol
Saturday, March 27 2010, 9:28AM
“here we go - the tree huggers and SBAE trying to curtail my right to travel! Get real and crawl back under the stone where you all come from! Using dodgy science and ruling that does not apply to Bristol.”