Second Bristol airport 'ready for take-off'

A TRANSPORT blueprint "opens the door" for a second airport for Bristol, it has been claimed.

Planning consultant Graham Parker believes wording in the Regional Spatial Strategy allows for an upgrade of Filton Airfield to a commercial airport.

The Government wants the airfield, which is used by Airbus and other aerospace companies, as well as for pilot training and business flights, to be "more integrated" into the South West transport network.

In its transport blueprint for the region, the airfield has been given the same status as Bristol International, Exeter and Bournemouth airports.

Mr Parker said: "It raises an old spectre for the residents of Patchway, Filton and Bradley Stoke. This policy, if adopted, would give Government blessing to the introduction of additional passenger services and opens the door for the resurrection of the notion of a second airport for Bristol.

"This will certainly concern all of those communities, both existing and future, in the north fringe of Bristol whose homes would be directly affected, particularly by noise and traffic.

"What is doubly worrying is that this is happening at the very time that the Government is promoting over 32,000 new homes in the area.

"Yet there is no warning of this either in the Airport White Paper or in the early stages of the Regional Spatial Strategy."

Mr Parker, director of CSJ Planning, is against the creation of a commercial airport at the BAE Systems-owned Filton site because his client, developer Deeley Freed, wants to build 2,000 homes close to the airfield at Cribbs Causeway.

Spokesmen for both Filton Airfield's owners and Bristol International Airport have dismissed the suggestion.

MP for Bristol North West Doug Naysmith, whose constituency includes Filton, says there is "no chance" it could become a commercial airport.

Nadia Nuaimi, spokeswoman for the Government Office for the South West, said there was an ambition to integrate the airfield more fully into the South West transport network.

She said: "We need to look at how Filton Airfield is integrated into the whole transport system. It's been far too disconnected to date.

"But there is nothing in black and white that says it will be upgraded and nothing that says it will be used more or less often.

"The detail will have to come in the local transport plan, which would be put together once the general outline proposals have been approved."

When plans to create a commercial airport in Filton emerged in the mid-1990s, there was widespread anger among residents living near the 400-acre aerodrome.

A planning inspector recommended planning permission be refused on the grounds that the airfield's location was unsuitable after a £1-million public inquiry between October 1994 and January 1995.

The plans would have seen up to 23,000 aircraft movements each year at Filton – about 63 flights a day.

Bristol International Airport currently handles around 240 flights a day, more than 87,000 per year.

A 13,500-strong group, Campaign Against Filton Commercial Airport, fought the plans for five years.

The draft version of the new Regional Spatial Strategy, a document which sets out the South West's transport and housing needs for the next 20 years, says: "Airports within the region should meet an increasing proportion of regional demand for air travel to reduce 'leakage' to other regions and the London airports.

"Relevant plans and strategies should include policies and proposals that support the development of Bristol, Bournemouth and Exeter within the currently agreed levels of growth and support the role of Gloucestershire and Filton Airports in continuing to serve business aviation needs."

Gyles Harris, chairman of the Campaign Against Filton Commercial Airport, believes the airfield will not be upgraded as too many homes are being built in the area.

Developer Bovis has started work on 2,000 homes a few hundred metres from the airfield's 2,467m runway and Persimmon Homes is also hoping to build 2,500 homes nearby.

Mr Harris, who lives in Winterbourne, said: "It's very unlikely it will happen but we will keep an eye on the situation. If anything did develop, we would fight it as before.

"But we have a decent airport to the south of the city and the pressure for more housing is greater than the pressure for another airport."

Alan Haile, manager of Filton Airfield, said he was unaware of any plans to upgrade the airfield for commercial use.

Bristol International Airport spokesman James Gore dismissed the suggestion that a rival commercial airport would be created in Filton.

He said: "Someone has put two and two together to come up with five. At a time when we will soon be unveiling our own development plans, it's unhelpful for red herrings such as this to get in the way of the real debate over how Bristol International can best meet the demand for travel to and from the South West in a sustainable way."

Mr Naysmith said: "There is absolutely no chance of Filton becoming a commercial airport. There are too many houses nearby."

A South Gloucestershire Council spokesman said: "The Government recently published an Aviation White Paper which favoured the expansion of Bristol Airport as the principal commercial one in the region."

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said: "The RSS clearly states that Filton should simply continue to serve local business and aviation needs."

Comments on the draft of the South West's Regional Spatial Strategy can be made until October 24. A decision on the strategy will then be made by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Hazel Blears by January.