This was the postcard used for the campaign – we got over 1000 of them signed, but this still wasn’t enough to persuade the planning committee to turn down the application to extend the runway at Birmingham International Airport, unfortunately. Here is some of the content from the content from the website, which has now expired:
How the Government got us into this mess:
In July 2002 the New Labour government’s Department for Transport (DfT) commenced a nation-wide public consultation entitled ‘The Future of Air Transport in the United Kingdom’.
Birmingham International Airport was identified
In December 2003 the government published a White Paper, ‘The Future of Air Transport’.
The White Paper was based on forecasts of growth in demand for air travel up to the year 2030.
The White Paper asked airport operators to produce (or update existing) business development ‘master plans’. An airport master plan sets out the airport operator’s expansion proposals
In October 2005 BIA Ltd published a draft version of a new master plan, ‘Towards 2030: Planning a Sustainable Future for Air Transport in the Midlands’, followed by a public consultation lasting five months and concluding in March 2006.
In December 2007, a year later than planned, the airport company published the final ‘adopted’ version of the master plan together with a revised surface access strategy.
Revised traffic forecasts of 27.2 million passengers per annum and 205,000 Air Transport Movements per annum in 2030 (comparative numbers for 2006 were 9.2 million passengers and 108,658 ATM’s). The updated traffic forecasts now indicate that a second runway should not be needed before 2030 and the Airport is being planned on that basis. Blight compensation schemes would not be triggered
Priority given to an extension to the main runway, which could be open before 2012.
The proposal involves extending the existing main runway (Runway 15/33) to the south-east by 400 metres, bringing the total length of the runway to 3000 metres, not including an additional 150-metre starter extension. To accommodate the longer runway, the A45 Coventry Road will be diverted and a tunnel built over a stretch of the road at a cost of about £40 million. Additional infrastructure required to support a longer runway include a new air traffic control tower (a Civil Aviation Authority requirement if the runway is to be extended) and a new international pier. In addition, the airfield layout will be revised, the public safety zone relocated, and local alterations undertaken to the existing fuel farm. The development will also necessitate ‘treatment of infringements of the obstacle limitation surfaces’, which mainly involves removing the tops of trees.
A third passenger terminal on the existing Airport site, with Phase 1 proposed for 2018;
Development of commercial and operational facilities at the Elmdon Terminal site, to include a dedicated Engine Ground Running Facility, a concern to residents nearby.
A reduction in the overall Airport Operational Area, i.e. the amount of land needed;
Long-term improvements to M42 Junction 6, and no dedicated Junction on the M42 for the Airport, resulting in less land-take;
New Public Transport Modal Share targets, (including a target of 35% of people reaching the airport via public transport in 2030);
Continuing programmes of ‘environmental mitigation’.
