A few updates on the inquiry & election candidates:
WDC now complaining because Cov City Council has granted permission for car parking, which they say should be referred to the Secretary of State, as it needs an ES (environmental statement), but CCC say not needed because it is only minor change of use, considering most of the industrial units to the north of the airport are for vehicle storage of some kind.
WDC also insisting that car park adjacent to terminal can't be acceptable under PDRs, as it too should be considered as part of whole development, and therefore needs an ES, even though it isn't rocket science to point out that the environmental impact of parking next to the terminal, instead of driving through Baginton village, to catch a shuttle bus which then takes you through that same village, only to run back through village again empty; is overwhelming positive. Doh!
WDC Chief Executive, Mike Duffett, slated earlier this week, with airports legal team pointing out that WDC have no experience dealing with PDR issues - and that's just their planning team, their planning committee are even more clueless.
Local candidates for election in Warwick & Leamington - both Plaskitt (Labour incumbent) and White (Tory challenger) say there is no room for compromise on airport. Plaskitt says "it is just in the wrong place, nowhere else has two airports so close". When asked what CVT could do to make itself more acceptable, White just says "move to Birmingham".
In Rugby & Kenilworth, Sitting MP Andy King (Lab) refuses to answer question on why airport supporters or non opponents should bother to vote for him.
"Radio 4 'seven days' programme next tue is on this very subject. Enjoy."
Full of the usual inaccuracies, such as:
"David & Goliath battle" - local villages v. TUI. All well and good, except for local villages read wealthy busy bodies (in the main), and TUI, it conveniently forgets that the battle started long before TUI took over the lease.
Coventry being "in Warwickshire".
And somehow they managed to find one passenger who was flying to Jersey to then carry on to the USA via LGW. Overplayed the "cheapness" of the flights too - two passenger interviewed both paid £3.50 for their flights, but if that's a fair sample, then Thomsonfly would not be around for long.
Oh well, as the old cliche goes, never let the truth get in the way of a good story.