terrier
I take it this article was in the form of a letter to the local press. I think the clue to the writer’s real worry is in his final sentence – the price of his house. All the fine talk about environmentalism is pure waffle.
I can tell you that the roads around the airport are no more polluted now than when Broadfield Down was the haunt of glider pilots after the war. As a child in the 1940s and 1950s I lived first at Wrington then at Redhill, on the A 38 two miles south of what is now Bristol Airport.
In those days there was no M 5 and the A 38 was the only artery from the North, Midlands and Bristol to the Southwest. If you think how busy this road is now at rush hour times, with the thousands of commuters rushing to their Bristol offices and home again in the evening to their fine country homes, then you will have an idea of what it was like for most of the time in the 1950s. Outside the rush hour the A 38 is still like a country lane compared to those post war days. If it weren’t I would not cycle along it at my age, and I do.
As for the villages in the Chew Valley, I am out there a lot, both on my bike and in my car. The main congestion is caused by thoughtless locals who park their cars in such places as the narrow Chew Magna High Street, and by the four-wheel-drive brigade on the school runs.
Compared to many airports very few people are affected by Lulsgate’s flights because few live in the vicinity. But those that do are often well-off, well educated, well-connected and well able to make a fuss.
The airport hasn’t stopped house buyers falling over themselves to buy the new executive homes on the former Winford Hospital site which is no more than a mile and a half from the threshold of 27. You can almost touch the ‘planes as they approach overhead. I expect many of these house buyers will be at the front of the queue demanding no further expansion of the airport, despite having bought their houses knowing them to be almost at the end of the runway. I also expect that many of them, like many of the other NIMBYs, use the airport from time to time.
The airport is there, it will continue to grow but clearly must not be allowed to do so in a way that is out of control. That is what this consultation is all about. However, the likes of Mr Vowles are scare mongering beyond belief when they suggest a motorway will be driven through the Chew Valley and a Gatwick or Heathrow will be perched above Lulsgate Bottom in 2030.
As for the Boeing 787, a brief internet search reveals there are three variants. The 787-3 will carry up to 296 pax in a two class configuration with a range of 6,500 km and certification/entry to service is 2010. The 787-8 will carry up to 223 pax in a three class configuration with a range of 15,700km and certification/entry to service is 2008. The 787-9 is a bigger version of the 8 but won’t enter service until at least 2012 and that will depend on market conditions.
So are we saying that both the 3 and the 8 could use BRS without let or hindrance as to the runway?