Greens are demanding a complete re-think on the Government’s plans for airport expansion and are asking for the Government to make the aviation industry pay for the true cost of the damage it causes. Darren Johnson, Leader of the Green Party Group in the London Assembly argues that the ethos of unfettered growth in aviation needs to be challenged, and that the Government has completely underestimated the tremendous opposition to airport expansion.
Darren Johnson comments, “Just as we learnt that building more roads merely generates more traffic, so too must politicians learn that increasing airport capacity will merely lead to more air traffic, more noise, more pollution and more greenhouse gas emissions. It’s time to say enough is enough. Why should we trust BAA? These are the same people who clearly ruled out the option of a third runway when it was campaigning for permission to build the fifth terminal at Heathrow.”
“BAA might think again about airport expansion if airlines did not enjoy the favouritism which the Government provides by way of tax-free fuel and VAT exemptions. Just as Mayor Livingstone has introduced charges for road users, we also need a congestion charge for air traffic.
BAA talks about ‘planning for growth’. But the destruction of as many as 10,000 homes is what planning for growth actually means. Londoners realise this and are right to say No.”
The Green Party Group argues that the expansion of airports increasingly puts a strain on local people and the local environment. Projected growth in passenger numbers will require the equivalent of four more airports the size of Heathrow by 2020 if present trends continue. Aviation is also the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases as well as the cause of noise pollution in communities surrounding airports. In short, Greens argue that the expansion of the number of airports across the UK is totally unsustainable.
ENDS