Birmingham Airport anti-Noise Group
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Tuesday 16th December 2003
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Birmingham Airport anti-Noise Group |
Press Release |
Tuesday 16th December 2003 |
Birmingham "collateral damage" of air industry's quick win
The Government has published its Air Transport White Paper today at 12.30pm. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has rejected plans for a new airport in the Warwickshire countryside and given the green light to a second wide-spaced runway at Birmingham International Airport.
Secretary of BANG James Botham said:
"Overall, I am sad and disappointed at this White Paper. While we share the joy and relief of people in Warwickshire, our fear now is that Birmingham will become the forgotten collateral damage of Mr Darling's decision to cave in to the aviation industry's demands for growth. Thousands more Birmingham residents will be exposed to unacceptable levels of aircraft noise and pollution if the second runway goes ahead. BANG is determined to fight on and we appeal to the Rugby and Coventry campaigners to back us as we take this campaign further."
Britain's cheap flights boom has brought with it unacceptable levels of noise disturbance and pollution for hundreds of thousands of people. The White Paper accepts the need for appropriate measures to mitigate the effects on communities of busier and larger airports - but will these words be backed with action? The Government must force the airlines to bear the environmental costs of their operations, costs which, until now, they have been happy to dump on society at large.
Mr Botham continued:
"BANG have always said that the consultation process was flawed, that the right questions were not asked. Unfounded assumptions about the benefits of aviation lead to a narrow debate on site preferences. The real debate is, and always was, whether the rising demand for air travel should be indulged with more or bigger airports or whether the gross tax anomalies which artificially sustain the industry should be abolished. We should be investing in public transport and alternatives for short-haul and domestic travel, not building new airports or runways."