Bristol Airport Expansion round 2 begins today

Today sees the resumption of a long, long-running battle to stop Bristol Airport from expanding into the face of climate chaos. Last year North Somerset Council voted ‘no’ to the expansion in an unprecedented verdict. Unsurprisingly the Airport bosses opted to fight a costly legal battle and appealed the verdict. The national level appeal process starts today – and from today people can submit their comment (Note! This differs from the last deadline, which was for submitting to North Somerset Council, results of which were 96.3% of the comments opposed the expansion). More on this:

The fate of the plans will now be decided at a national level.

For many, the fight is not new. A decade ago campaigners launched an ultimately unsuccessful challenge against an increase to the current cap of 10million passengers per year.

Unlike last time, the appeal will be considered at a four-week public inquiry due to start in July – allowing campaigners to bolster the council’s position – and the environment is firmly on the agenda.

Bristol Green councillor Stephen Clarke from the Bristol Airport Action Network, one of the organisations that will speak at the hearing, said: “There are currently over 20 regional airports thinking about expanding. Bristol Airport is the first to go to a planning appeal. That makes it really important as a precedent.

When you consider the climate sitation we’re in, it is crazy that we’re even considering this expansion, but that’s sadly the system we’re in:

You can act though! Take five minutes to send your objection – details here.

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