The current debate about a third runway at Heathrow reminds me of the campaign we fought in Rugby in 2002 when we opposed a fanciful scheme for a new international airport. All of the environmental arguments are very familiar having been used by our team but with climate change having accelerated in recent years are now even more relevant. We argued against the rise in the number of short haul flights on the basis that a decent rail network would render air travel between cities in the UK unnecessary. The west coast main line is now much improved and the Conservatives have announced proposals for a new north-south rail link which have been well supported. The 2002 exercise was supposed to be a thorough appraisal of future air travel needs - what happened to it and where is there a reference to it in the Government's hastily announced decision this week? I am the first to accept that major planning infrastructure decisions in this country take too long, but if I lived anywhere near Heathrow (as I did when I worked in London 25 years ago) I would want to know that that any proposals would be properly considered.
Friday, 16 January 2009
Airport Expansion
The current debate about a third runway at Heathrow reminds me of the campaign we fought in Rugby in 2002 when we opposed a fanciful scheme for a new international airport. All of the environmental arguments are very familiar having been used by our team but with climate change having accelerated in recent years are now even more relevant. We argued against the rise in the number of short haul flights on the basis that a decent rail network would render air travel between cities in the UK unnecessary. The west coast main line is now much improved and the Conservatives have announced proposals for a new north-south rail link which have been well supported. The 2002 exercise was supposed to be a thorough appraisal of future air travel needs - what happened to it and where is there a reference to it in the Government's hastily announced decision this week? I am the first to accept that major planning infrastructure decisions in this country take too long, but if I lived anywhere near Heathrow (as I did when I worked in London 25 years ago) I would want to know that that any proposals would be properly considered.
