I’m sure by now everyone’s heard about the planned Bristol Airport expansion. So which one are you? Virtuous greenie or Satan-loving expansionist? Or maybe, you know, completely against it in principle but wouldn’t it be kind of handy to be in Barcelona in 3 hours flat,
without popping by Stansted?

Not having to spend three times your air fare on buses and trains is tempting to say the least… epecially when you know it’s going straight in the pockets of Worst Great Western. But reading a bit further into the airport plans it all gets a bit scary…

In 2004 there were 4.5 million passengers and 53,000 plane movements… in 2030 there’ll be 12.5 million passengers and 108,000 plane movements. Double the amount and a plane every 3.5 minutes. Nice. When I read facts and figures they tend to blur into grey somewhere between my eyes and brain but sitting at Ashton Court last weekend I watched two planes chase each
other across South Bristol towards the airport with a third not far behind. That’s what it’ll be like pretty much all day by 2030.

The British projection is even more frightening, 200 million passengers per year in 2005 to 500 million in 2030. Over 380 a minute taking off, that’s quite a lot right?

The Bristol plan means more traffic on the narrow country lanes (or maybe some bigger roads eh?), more level-site parking on the green fields South of the airport. But you know this already.

So just a couple more facts (I promise).

Bristol airport’s current emissions are roughly 430,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. That’s more than all the road transport in Bristol put together. In 2019 it will be 730,000 tonnes. Almost double, imagine wanting to double the amount of yummy Clifton mummies on their SUV school run and angry taxis revving at the traffic lights.

If you’d like to show your support for the stop Bristol Airport expansion campaign leave your name at the site below, you can even request a poster for your window if you like.

www.nobristolairportexpansion.co.uk

Rosie Gilliam