‘Outrageous’, ‘disastrous’, ‘shameful’

Responses have been overwhelmingly negative to the government giving the green light for an expansion of Bristol Airport.

The airport’s application to expand was originally rejected by North Somerset Council but this was overturned on Wednesday following an appeal.

Here are just a few reactions from politicians and campaigners:

Richard Baxter Bristol Greenpeace
“Last November, prime minister Boris Johnson warned world leaders at the COP26 climate summit that it is now ‘one minute to midnight’ in the race to prevent global heating from surpassing a critical threshold. He called for immediate action yet he presides over a government that is seriously failing UK citizens in tackling the problem. Reducing carbon emissions is an urgent priority over the next decade for all sectors of industry and it needs to start now, not in several years time in the hope that technology and offsetting emissions will do the trick. Bristol Airport is gambling with our long term future in return for short-term profits. We feel the odds are against them achieving their flimsy promises. The only sure way to reduce carbon emissions this decade and achieve local and national targets is to operate less flights.”

Stephen Clarke, Bristol Airport Action Network
“It means that the owners of Bristol Airport , the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, can now start to put in place their plans to have more than 20,000 extra planes a year to fly into the airport; this will lead to massive amounts of extra carbon in the delicate high atmosphere, an extra 10,000 plus car journeys on the congested roads around the airport and many extra night flights disturbing the sleep of local residents. It means that the airport and the planning inspectorate have totally ignored the climate crisis we are currently in. Some of the promises that were made at COP26 climate talks in Glasgow only a couple of months ago have already been broken and the members of BAAN are outraged at this decision. This is not the end of the story though; BAAN consider that the process and the decision taken may well have been unlawful under national and international law and we are taking legal advice to see what action can be taken to stop this self-destructive development.”

Don Davies, North Somerset Council leader
“This simply flies in the face of local democracy and disregards the views of the local communities who fought equally hard to resist the expansion. It completely undermines our vision for a greener North Somerset, our determination to tackle the climate emergency and the target we have set for the area to be carbon-neutral by 2030.”

Carla Denyer, Green Party co-leader and Clifton Down councillor
“Allowing Bristol Airport to expand – more than doubling its capacity – is an outrageous decision that is totally incompatible with the climate emergency. Aviation, especially the frequent flights taken by a wealthy minority, is one of the fastest growing sources of carbon emissions and causes incredible amounts of pollution both globally and locally in Bristol and North Somerset. The Government’s intervention on the side of the Airport goes against the wishes of local people, councils and elected representatives and contradicts the advice of their own Climate Change Committee. It risks setting the UK’s progress on climate change back by years.”

Tarisha Finnegan Clarke, Bristol Airport Action Network
“Bristol Airport are certainly world-class at one thing: greenwash! That is, they say they care about the local community and the ecological crisis whilst all the time they go against communities’ wishes and increase harmful toxic emissions. They say that electric and hydrogen planes will save the day, despite the contrary evidence from scientists and engineers. They claim to be net-zero but they don’t include the emissions from the aircraft in their calculations. They even say people will be healthier if this expansion is allowed to go ahead (see the transcripts of the inquiry!). It is unforgivable that the Government’s Inspectorate has been apparently taken in by Bristol Airport’s self-serving lies and exaggerations. Nothing will be healthier because of this expansion other than the airport’s wallet. We will continue to fight these damaging plans on behalf of local residents and those suffering from the effects of climate change nationally and around the globe.”

Bristol Airport wants to increase capacity from 10 million passengers a year to 12 million – photo: Bristol Airport

Liam Fox, MP for North Somerset
“Hugely disappointed that the three inspectors have allowed this appeal. Whatever the arguments around regional airports, in general, the local transport infrastructure around Bristol Airport cannot sustain this amount of passenger traffic without substantially impacting the quality of life in many of our towns and villages.”

Sir David King, Climate Crisis Advisory Group chair and former UK government’s chief scientific advisor
“It’s impossible to reconcile a decision like this with the reality the world is facing. The irony is that we’re building for a future that we won’t get to experience; it just won’t exist unless we face up to the fundamental changes required to reach net-zero and beyond. If COP26 ratcheted up the sense of urgency to tackle the global climate crisis, it was matched by our growing sense that there has been a profound loss of trust among all those who look to wealthy nations such as the UK to lead the way on climate action.”

Dave Lees, Bristol Airport CEO
“Bristol Airport welcomes the decision of the Planning Inspectorate. The decision is excellent news for our region’s economy, allowing us to create thousands of new jobs in the years ahead and provide more choice for our customers, supporting inbound tourism, and reducing the millions of road journeys made to London airports each year. We will now push ahead with our multi-million-pound plans for net zero operations by 2030 and look forward to working with stakeholders and the community to deliver sustainable growth.”

Dan Norris, West of England metro mayor
“I am dismayed but not at all surprised by this decision. The government is in chaos on UK airport expansion as on pretty much everything else. The government’s lack of green policy on UK airport expansion has resulted in inspectors ignoring the voices of local people, and the resolution of the West of England Combined Authority which I lead. There is a climate emergency and everyone should be doing their bit – particularly government. I have always thought the people are ahead of law makers on this issue. The public will severely punish politicians who ignore the climate emergency and I believe this decision will be overturned by future new government within years. The current PM has got other things on his mind at the moment but we really need a serious leader who is willing to take on these tough issues head on.”

Sarah Warren, Bath & North East Somerset cabinet member for climate & sustainable transport
“This is disastrous news. Airport expansion is fundamentally incompatible with the action being taken by West of England councils to tackle the climate emergency and our hopes to leave a habitable planet for future generations. The Planning Inspectorate’s decision goes against local wishes. North Somerset Council refused planning permission for Bristol Airport’s expansion. B&NES and WECA also opposed the plans. It’s extremely disappointing that local democracy can be overruled in this way. Expansion is incompatible with advice from the IPCC and the government’s own Climate Change Committee and would cause great damage to our environment and wellbeing both regionally and locally. The growth of Bristol Airport and the lack of sustainable transport access options means B&NES residents will be further affected by noise, traffic and pollution associated with the airport.”

Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh, Climate Crisis Advisory Group member
“This decision beggars belief. Expanding Bristol Airport will lead to a huge increase in flying – the most polluting form of transport. Tackling the climate crisis requires reducing – not increasing – how much we fly. This decision goes against local wishes and completely undermines UK claims to be climate leaders; all the more shameful while our nation holds the COP presidency to lead global efforts to cut emissions.”

Main photo: Bristol Airport Action Network

Read more: ‘The airport is the airport, but the planet is more important’

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