Momentary Lapse Wrote :-
Quote - 2 Bollin Valley - I saw the valley before, during and after construction. I am well aware that MA has planted 6 new trees for every 1 felled, installed bat boxes etc. and sprayed cash all around. However I would reply that they could have improved the environment in that area (more trees, bat boxes, fencing etc.) without dropping thousands of tonnes of concrete on it first. - Un-quote.
Please forgive what may seem my total lack of understanding on this, but what would your solution be to such a problem should any other Airfield wish to accomadate an increase in air travel being demanded and thus increasing aircraft movements, which at some point will exceed the capacity of the only runway they have, BEFORE that point is reached?
I'm NOT having a go at you here ( Honest), but I'd just like to know what alternatives you have, when an Airport company want to grow a business because the growth is there, and the operators and public almost demand that they be accomadated, WITHOUT expanding the amount of Concrete at their disposal, be it Parking areas, Taxiways or Runways ?
I'm nearly always having a pop at Manchester these days for their ' Lack of Forsight' they have appeared to display over the last ten or so years, (compared to the good old days) in their "advance of demand planning and building". The ONLY exception to this has been Runway 2, which was probably on the drawing boards a long while back, and it has been a tremendous success.
How many Bat boxes has any of us put up? Nil I bet. How many Bat boxes would have been put up - again Nil. Would the places that Bats lived previously have now fallen down - I don't know? Are the the bats better off ? - you'd better ask them, but I would guess that yes they are!
All I'm asking is, what would your alternative be, that would enable an Aiport like Manchester to grow and to be able to handle 20 - 40 million passengers annually, without encroaching on green fields, trees, badgers, moles,rabbits, bats, newts, wood-lice, midges, and those little bas*** corn-flies that bite me !!
Green? - I've never seen Manchester airport look greener
Tin-hat is on, ready to receive incomming !!
