Its potential is being overlooked
WITH talk of a potential merger between BAE and Airbus, people who live in South Gloucestershire and Bristol, along with unions, elected representatives and the government need to start asking some serious and pointed questions.
In my opinion, this can only be seen as a benefit to BAE which concentrates on worldwide military contracts, which continue to drop off from the likes of America. I'm sure Airbus could, if need be, continue to operate as it is concentrating on passenger aircraft growth from countries such as India.
So why even contemplate doing this? Could it be that with any merger or takeover you see occur, companies and employers rationalise staff and expertise or "re-structure". You can't blame companies with no understanding of Filton's history, to see a deal such as this in any other way. Any potential merger can only be seen as a ticket for further job loses in the South Gloucestershire and Bristol areas and I'm glad that the whole deal is currently in question.
If further unemployment wasn't bad enough, consider the fact that these major companies would essentially be French; operating here for what I'm sure would only be a limited time. The European Union and its top bureaucrats have been undertaking a systematic downgrading of the UK and its military for longer than I care to remember and worst of all, our elected representatives allow it and in some cases encourage it for reasons I can't quite understand. The UK's defences have been over stretched and under funded since the Falklands War and I shudder to think what may happen if there were to be a another conflict to such a scale. Having served in the Royal Navy, I have seen this first hand in peace and war.
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So I come to Filton Airfield and its potential. It's regretful that at the time it was discussed to create Bristol Airport at the airfield, it wasn't fully investigated on how to mitigate issues surrounding its development. We all know that infrastructure and access around Filton Airfield is substantially better than our current hotly debated North Somerset airport. However, we are where we are with decisions taken then and as a democracy we must be respectful of the majority. What seems to be continuously overlooked is the potential the airfield still retains. Due to the fact its American owners see it as no more than an asset which would fetch a tidy sum sold as a development for housing; it's extremely difficult to present any other argument when many ears of many people who could make a difference are plugged. It's interesting that with the release of company accounts for the airfield, the airfield part of the site, made a profit for the second year running. Don't be fooled by people who tell you it runs at a loss. These loss making elements are sections of the business which are being run down to confuse the accounts. The airfield only needs one heavy haulage flight a week to break even.
We don't need the additional housing and considering that one of the reasons a commercial airport was refused planning was traffic, do we honestly believe that another 3,500 houses would be populated only by cyclists, non car owners or users of our unfit for purpose public transport provided by our bus companies?
We have been seriously let down by our elected representatives and this travesty continues as normal. Amidst the party whipping and head stomping to get onto the ladder of employment after their MP apprenticeship is over, there are people who care and people who have come forward; I for one commend them for that. Let the residents of our areas make their feelings known in 2015 when these self-preservationists are removed from office.
This is not a political battle, much more one of morals, belief and protection of our area and country. UKIP firmly stand behind anyone who believes in this country and its betterment, thus ensuring a future and opportunities for our children. Short term gain now in relation to this issue will only provide long term loss on an unprecedented scale.
We eagerly await the result of the planning inspector's inquiry into South Gloucestershire's core strategy document which could seal the airfield's fate. I ask anyone with an interest in our areas to stand up and join the fight led by The Save Filton Airfield Campaign.
Remember, this isn't just about an airfield; it really is about safeguarding our futures.
Ben Walker
UKIP South Gloucestershire Councillor for Bradley Stoke
Comments
by FiltonInsider
Thursday, October 04 2012, 9:54AM
“This was never a democratic process.
Pretty much the whole region is against the closure, but what do SGC care? They care not a jot.
Councillors living in Yate and Thornbury got to vote on this matter. Which is fair enough. But Councillors from Southmead and Henbury did not.
That cannot be right. The broken boundaries are destroying Bristol and this region. (It is also utterley rediculous that people in Bradley Stoke and Patchway won't get a vote on the Bristol Mayor).
Decisions were made by SGC before any public consultation, and before any technical or economic assessment of the airfield. In fact to this day, NODOBY has made an economic assessment of the airfield. Naturally, BAE have released no details of the running costs.
SGC use the excuse fed to them by BAE. That the airfield is unviable.
That doesn't quite stack up. If you check Filton Airfield accounts you'll see that despite being run down, and despite most of the operators being driven away already, the airfield made a profit in 2010 and 2011. The company has huge accumulated losses but these were inherited from the failure of the companies aircraft conversion business, not from the airfield.
SGC Councillors don't want to hear any of this. Nor do they want to hear what the people it claims to represent have to say. They are more interested in themselves, their bonuses, and the funding of their Political parties by the House Building Federation.
They are a disgrace to this Country. Get them all out and let the people of this region show them what can be done with vision, with passion and with pride.”
by KBarad
Wednesday, October 03 2012, 7:40PM
“I can't say I've ever particularly aligned to the general philosophies of UKIP, but thank you for a fact based article which focuses on the needs of the people and not on party lines.
The problem we face is a major one: the industry and jobs are under threat, the infrastructure is grossly insufficient, and the current council have blatantly ignored all public consultation, petition and concern in favour of the profits of a rich corporation whose interests clearly do not include the greater good of Filton. For all the spouting about democratic choices for the airfield, the democratic process has not been followed in the core strategy, with things decided behind closed doors long before the public were disclosed and ignored.
The Save Filton Airfield campaign have been constantly fighting not for the airfield for the sake of history alone, but for the passion and enthusiasm of the thousands of aerospace workers who put their lives into aviation, the tourists and enthusiasts who regularly line the A38 to take pictures, the children who look up from their schools and see ambition and goals. I've done careers talks at schools around Bristol: where else would you see school kids of 7 say they want to be engineers, pilots, mechanics? No football stars or actors: we have kids with real dreams in Bristol. What will they say in 10 years time? Builder? Traffic warden? Benefits?
Construction is NOT a sustainable industry. By its nature it consumes land (and we are one of the densest populated countries in Europe), it provides short term jobs, much of it unskilled and not well paid and often the money is taken elsewhere, not locally. Houses concentrate money in a few wealthy companies (40% profit per house means underpaid workers) while generally creating massive amounts of debt through mortgages and therefore damaging the economy. it's not an industry we should be supporting! Aerospace provides jobs for 40 years, the average Aerospace engineer generates £300,000 for their company a year (a Cambridge economic study, 2010 i believe?), and they lead to massive amounts of high value supply chain, as well as attracting wealth and investment from abroad.
Yet without support from the majority, without people standing up instead of ignoring things...we don't have much future left to keep fighting for...”