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October 07, 2002
NO CASE FOR A NEW AIRPORT AT CLIFFE
NO CASE FOR A NEW AIRPORT AT CLIFFE - RSPB ARGUES FOR DEMAND MANAGEMENT, PLUS BETTER USE OF EXISTING CAPACITY.
Speaking at a conference that is being held to highlight major aviation issues(1) RSPB Director of Conservation, Dr Mark Avery, will demolish the case for a new airport at Cliffe.
"Any thoughts of building a new airport at Cliffe should be consigned to the realms of fantasy," says Dr Avery. "Although the RSPB readily acknowledges the increasing demand for air travel within the UK, Cliffe is among Europe's most important sites for wildlife and is protected by international and national law.(2)
Over 1,000 residential properties would have to be destroyed to build the airport. There is no evidence that the airline industry supports the Cliffe option and the private finance needed for construction would not be forthcoming."
The effects of building at Cliffe would make it one of the most ecologically destructive developments known in the UK and the Government would have to pass the very strict legal tests designed to protect the internationally important wildlife sites in situ. The replacement of almost an entire estuarine Special Protection Area and Ramsar site has never been attempted in the UK: even small-scale replacements have proven difficult to achieve (3)
The RSPB has extensive experience in creating and managing new habitats, but in this instance cannot see how it will be possible to replace the complex ecosystem that would be lost if an airport was built at Cliffe.
If the Government were to choose to build an airport there they would face a protracted legal battle, which could last for years.
The RSPB believes that any sustainable air transport policy must combine demand management through fiscal measures and by promoting alternatives for short-haul travel and improving capacity at existing airports.
"Even SASIG (4) agrees that Government should constrain the growth in demand for air travel," Dr Avery points out. "One way is to keep prices constant, which could halve growth in demand. This and making best use of existing infrastructure is the intelligent way forward, not the off-the-wall proposals to destroy yet more of south east's precious environment."
Notes:
1: Air Transport of Tomorrow' - The Centre for Transport Policy
Wednesday 20 November 2002 - 09.45-17.15
CBI Conference Centre, New Oxford Street, London
2: The Cliffe marshes area is part of one of the most important, and well-protected, nature conservation areas in Europe. It forms part of the Thames Estuary and Marshes Special Protection Area and Ramsar site - internationally important wetlands also designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. The area supports a wide range of other important wildlife habitats, including ancient woodland. Some of the most important areas are managed as nature reserves, including six which are managed by the RSPB.
The Government will have to prove that it has no alternative solutions to building a new airport in this location and that imperative reasons of overriding public interest exist to justify the environmental destruction. The RSPB considers it will not be possible to pass such strict tests in this case.
3: For example, five years after the European Court of Justice ruling against it, the UK Government still hasn't created new habitat to compensate for the destruction of just 22ha of Special Protection Area mudflat at Lappel Bank, Sheerness - just a few miles from Cliffe.
4: The Strategic Aviation Special Interest group published its report Monday, although there was not universal local agreement. Eleven members of SASIG objected to, or at the time had not taken a position on, specific mention of Cliffe as the new airport of choice to serve the South-East . Two local groups, Medway District Council and Kent County Council have both resigned from the Strategic Aviation Special Interest Group.
Posted by Surfbirds at October 7, 2002 11:18 PM
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