Council oppose Bristol Airport expansion
25.08.09
Bristol City Council has formally objected to Bristol Airport's £150m expansions plans, the Evening Post reports. The Council, which once owned the airport, says the expansion will mean more night noise, traffic pollution and climate change, all having an negative impact on Bristol and surrounding areas. Although the expansion plans will be decided by North Somerset Council, Bristol City Council has the opportunity to give its opinion as a neighbouring authority.
The £150m scheme includes an expanded terminal, new multi-storey airport car parks, new runway apron and demolition of the old terminal. The airport says that the expansion is needed to cater for the increase from 6 million passengers a year, to 10 million by 2020. Public consultation on the expansion ended last week and the scheme will now be decided by a North Somerset Council planning committee.
Bristol City Council raised concerns in a formal letter of objection, claiming the airport had failed to adequately address issues that the council had previously raised in its application. These included noise levels from planes over Bristol, especially early in the morning and late at night. It says that increased airport traffic will reduce air quality in parts of Bristol and that the airport has failed to provide convincing evidence that its commitment to generate 15 percent of energy on site from renewable sources is feasible. In any case, it says that this will be insignificant given the overall increase in carbon emissions from flights and increased road traffic. It also believes increased traffic to the airport will exacerbate congestion on the city's roads.
Campaigners from Stop Bristol Airport Expansion (SBAE) said the city authority had got it right. A spokesman told the newspaper they were ‘delighted’ at the council's objection.
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