Farnborough Airport given green light to expand

Keith Parkins | 20.03.2008 13:09 | Climate Chaos | Globalisation | Social Struggles

Farnborough Airport has been given the go-ahead to double weekend and bank holiday flights.

'The decision means we will be able to satisfy substantial demand from business aviation.' -- Brandon O'Reilly, chief executive, TAG Aviation

In what was seen as giving two fingers to the local community, a planning inquiry inspector has decided the economic advantages (even though not a shred of evidence was provided to show any economic advantages) outweigh any disadvantages to the local community.

The planning inspector has granted TAG Aviation the right to double their weekend and bank holiday flights at Farnborough Airport.

The government could have overruled the inspector, but chose not to. So much for the government's mealy-mouthed commitments to a reduction in greenhouse gases.

Expansion of Farnborough Airport is bad for two reasons:

First, residential Farnborough lies at the end of the runway, apart from the loss of amenity, there is a risk to safety.

According to the planning inquiry inspector, local traffic masked the sound of aircraft!

Second, Farnborough Airport is a business airport, the aircraft are used as business aircraft with what can only be seen as low load factors bordering on the obscene,

Farnborough Airport is a key component of globalisation.

Farnborough Airport is crony capitalism at its worst.

The government could have overruled the planning inspector, but chose not to.

The local member of parliament Gerald Howarth MP and the chief executive of the local council, the Rotten Borough of Rushmoor, are unabashed cheerleaders for TAG Aviation who operate and now own the site.

TAG Aviation bought the site from MOD for £1 million, a value grossly undervalued by at least two hundred fold.

The Rotten Borough of Rushmoor has pushed the TAG agenda. The only reason they rejected the planning application from TAG was because they were faced with the threat of a Judicial Review which they would have lost had they done as in the past and rubber-stamped the TAG application.

TAG are now gung-ho about expansion. Even before the planning decision was made public, they had announced a multi-million pound investment at Farnborough.

Locally, people have lost all confidence in the planning system. It is not only the airport, they have also seen their town centre destroyed.

They have learnt the hard lesson from from Heathrow. In the face of a corrupt political system, the only action that counts is direct action. The only action that will stop TAG will be direct action.

This summer sees the Farnborough International Airshow. Farnborough would therefore be the appropriate place, coinciding with the airshow, to hold a summer camp dealing with the twin threats of arms trade and global warming.

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