Arguments in favour of Coventry Airport expansion
14.01.06
The second public enquiry in to passenger use of Coventry airport commenced on Tuesday. In opening statements by lawyers representing those for and against the expansion of the airport, the arguments for and against the expansion were laid out. Here we summarise the arguments in favour of expansion.
Failure to expand Coventry Airport would be 'scandalous', according to the barrister representing the airport. Peter Village QC suggested there is a moral duty to allow the terminal to be built because of the site's 'unique' qualities.
Mr Village told the inquiry: 'It is one of its great strengths that it can bring so much to so many, with such limited impacts to so few. Its suitability is vividly demonstrated by the absence of any material environmental harm, or the creation of any material degree of additional risk.'
'What other airports could accommodate two million passengers per annum without any material impacts on ecology, nature conservation or bird strike risk? It would be scandalous to squander the opportunities it represents. This is a proposal which the area quite simply cannot afford to lose.'
Birmingham Airport, which opposes the plan as its managers fear expanding Coventry Airport would interfere with its own government-backed growth, received Mr Village's strongest criticism. He described their objections as 'misconceived and threadbare, exposing the naked commercialism beneath', adding: 'so far as competition is concerned, it is of course absurd to suggest that the use of Coventry Airport for an additional million passengers per year could have any material impact on Birmingham at all.'
He concluded that expansion at Coventry 'is so insignificant that it is merely a fraction of Birmingham's margin of error for its forecasting.'
Mr Village made great claim of the airport's wider economic benefits and its accordance with planning policies, saying: 'It is unsurprising that the proposals enjoy such widespread support from the relevant bodies and agencies concerned with matters such as economic regeneration. What is left is objection by those with axes to grind, with interests to serve in defeating these proposals, or misconceived views of policy.'
Coventry City Council's support for the terminal was also explained at the inquiry. Its opening statement read: 'The proposals provide a real opportunity for the city and sub-region to benefit from the undeniable economic benefits which will result.'
'The employment and wider economic benefits to the city outweigh the mitigated environmental and traffic impacts. There is much assertion of possible prejudice to Birmingham's role and its future strategy but nothing by way of any convincing evidence.'
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