“This was a golden opportunity to put a clear case against airport expansion in London and the South East but the Assembly has blown it,” said Darren Johnson. “The Assembly submission tries to be all things to all people but has ended up pleasing no-one. Indeed, both the Greens and the Conservatives have refused to sign up to the report.”
Over 10 hours of Committee meetings were devoted to the submission on the Government’s airport expansion proposals, not to mention hundreds of hours of staff time. The Transport Committee; the Environment Committee; the Planning and Spatial Development Committee; and the Economic and Social Development Committee looked it at. However, the Assembly failed to produce a coherent response.
The Greens have disowned the Assembly report and instead have made their own submission to the Government’s consultation process on airport expansion, calling for the following:
· No expansion at Heathrow
· No expansion at Gatwick
· No expansion at Stansted
· No expansion at smaller airports such as City Airport and Biggin Hill
· No new airports, such as Cliffe in Kent
· The introduction of aviation taxes to reflect the full social and environmental costs of aviation.
ENDS