information from the Stop Bristol Airport Expansion campaign group.
Bristol International Airport (BIA) has applied for planning permission to expand. This development aims to increase passengers by 60% by 2016, increase passenger flights by 40%, summer night flights by 50%, car journeys by over 2m per year, and carbon emissions by at least 40%.
This will mean more traffic on country roads, more noise day and night, more countryside eaten up by car parking, and more climate changing impacts.
It is argued that expansion will be good for tourism, but between 6 and 10 times as many tourists are outbound rather than inbound, leading to £700m being drained from the UK economy each year. Expansion will make this worse. Recently, the weak pound has caused passenger numbers to drop by 15% or more, but local tourist destinations have seen more visitors than last year.
BIA claim that expansion will create 3500 jobs in the region, but only 900 of these are within the airport and the rest of the jobs appear to be wishful thinking. The outflow of tourism spending destroys far more jobs than this. Even 800 jobs looks high when the expansion is based on no-frills airlines.
Business passengers can already use BIA to reach anywhere in the world through Paris, Amsterdam and Newark. Expansion would not bring any significant change to this, it is targeted at outbound tourists.
We have 6 weeks to tell North Somerset council why this expansion is not needed, and why it is bad for the economy as well as the environment.
You can object to the expansion in the following ways:
- you can visit our website and use the email form
- you can email the council yourself at dccomments@n-somerset.gov.uk, refering to planning application number 09/P/1020/OT2, please copy your email to email@stopbia.com
- write a letter to
Neil Underhay, re: application 09/P/1020/OT2
Development Control
North Somerset Council
Somerset House
Oxford Road
Weston super Mare BS23 1TG
You can also help us in the following ways:
- forward this email to any people you think may be interested
- help to distribute printed leaflets (please contact email@stopbia.com
- make a donation at www.stopbia.com/donate.php
You can find lots more details on what BIA are planning to do, and why we believe the impacts far outweigh the benefits by visiting our website: www.stopbia.co
You can find what the airport says about its plans here.
We have 6 weeks to lodge as many objections as possible.
In addition, if you are concerned about developments in the countryside and the greenbelt, particularly in the area around Bristol, please visit www.saveourgreenspaces.org to see how you can help fight the implications of the housing and other targets of the Regional Spatial Strategy.
Many thanks for your time
Stop Bristol Airport Expansion Ltd
a non-profit company limited by guarantee, number 68434112
BCFC Stadium, Ashton Vale Heritage Newsletter
The planning application for the Bristol City Football Stadium is expected soon. This is the Ashton Vale newsletter, which I thought you would be interested to see. HOLA will be working with Ashton Vale and SOGS to oppose this unwarranted development.
Rod Sterland
YOU HAVE ONE CHANCE
You have one chance, just one, and if you miss it, then say a big welcome to your new 10,000 new neighbours. Say Hello to a structure so vast that it will block out any other building or landscape. Say Hi to thousands of football supporters who will file past YOUR WINDOWS. Once you receive your letter from the Council you will have JUST ONE opportunity to object and this must occur within 21 days.
Ashton Vale is set to change forever unless you do something to STOP IT NOW.
The plan has been submitted by the Football Club to Bristol City Council. If you want to try and retain any of the characteristics of Ashton Vale then you need to act now. If you think this development will not affect you then think again.
As soon as we receive anything we will be emailing to all on our mailing list and if Sid agrees we will display this information in the local shop. If you want to be on the mailing list then email us at mail@ashtonvaleheritage.co.uk NOW! Or phone us on: 07972 558117.
Our main campaign is against development on the Green Belt surrounding Ashton Vale Fields which are classed under the green belt policy and is a Site of Nature Conservation (SNCI) as listed in the Council’s Bristol Plan 1997 document. Our petition had over 800 names, so we know local people do care about ASHTON VALE’S HERITAGE.
Whether you are for or against the proposals have your say. Ashton Vale Heritage Group is now routinely included in consultations being made in South Bristol. If you want to be added to our mailing list, please let us know, we can’t represent your views if you don’t tell us what they are.
ALL OVER THE COUNTRY PEOPLE ARE OBJECTING TO BUILDING ON GREEN BELT. IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO STOP IT.
If the planning department don’t hear from you they assume you are in agreement and you want the stadium. If the Council sends out 1,000 letters and has only 100 responses they will assume that 900 people are in agreement and only 10% are not, so it’s important you HAVE YOUR SAY whether you agree or not.
Think it won’t affect you? Think again.
We live in an area with a population of less than 2,000, add another 10,000 and think it still won’t affect you. Add a 40,000 seat football stadium, hotels, blocks of flats, fast food, car park, turnstiles, floodlights, big screens, coaches, police vans and dogs, TV crews, still think it won’t affect you or your family or your way of life? Lights on 24 hours a day, security crews, guard dogs, still think it won’t affect you?
IF YOU NEED HELP FILLING IN YOUR OBJECTION WE CAN HELP CONTACT US ON 07972 558 117.
WHY YOU SHOULD SAY NO
- Building on the Green Belt should be the last resort use Brown field first.
- Ashton Vale is an active flood plain and should never be built on.
- Quality of life due to the noise, light pollution, blaring floodlights, helicopters, crowds, dust, dirt, misery created from the development and subsequent activity, seven days a week, for the next two years and that’s just while it’s being built. Then the true costs really kick in.
- Wildlife is important to all communities, we have an abundance of it and we should be protecting it.
- The loss of all kinds of amazing, often rare and endangered species, including rare birds, bats, dragonflies and butterflies. There are also otters, badgers and deer recorded in the fields and surrounding area.
- To lose our natural green space, places for people to walk and air quality and green lungs to our city will be greatly affected and lost forever.
- It has not been proved that the stadium is not suitable or could not be improved to meet their aspirations for the future.
- There is concern about the explosive nature of the gases on the landfill sites surrounding Ashton Vale and the disturbance of the waste the land contains if the stadium is built on it.
- Silbury Road has been designated as the pedestrian entrance and termination for the bus route. This represents thousands of people walking through the Vale to get to the pitch. Some fans may use the new bus terminal at Silbury Road and the potential for fans to gather at Silbury Road and other entrances causing a problem with crowd control.
- There will be increased Police presence in Ashton Vale on match days turning this quiet residential area into a busy and potentially tense atmosphere.
- There will be increased inconvenience and noise from helicopters over the site and nearby streets. Pollution from coaches and cars travelling into the area. It will be a rat run through South Liberty Lane.
- There will be year round disruption, noise, flood lighting and late night musical events once the site is used for as a venue for other large scale entertainment.
- An increase in litter, pollution and street vendors in Ashton Vale, leading to fans collecting in certain areas.
- The stadium’s height and the size will overpower Ashton Vale, blocking out all views of Long Ashton Church, Long Ashton Village, the suspension Bridge and Ashton Court where thousands of people watch the balloon fiesta every year.
- Transport problems – match day parking, increased traffic on Winterstoke Rd and surrounding areas.
- This quiet residential area is simply not a suitable place to build a new stadium.
- Once gone, this unique area will be lost forever, please help us to save this area for people and wildlife.
DO SOMETHING NOW - JOIN US IN TRYING TO STOP THIS DEVELOPMENT
Report on Save Our Green Spaces meeting June
This is a meeting of the chairs of the various groups in and around Bristol and Cheltenham including CPRE.
The SOGS website is now up and running. A lot of effort has gone into this and it is worth logging on just to see the little animation of the Ashton Vale development. If that doesn’t shock you nothing will.
The website has:
- Links to member groups of SOGS, including HOLA, of course.
- A sign up for the SOGS newsletter. Please do this as this will provide you with news of other group events and rapid alerts to things that are happening. It also helps build the SOGS data base.
- A link to the prepared letter to the new Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham. This has been prepared by CPRE and is on their website. Users can edit the letter and it is sent directly to the Secretary of State, it can also be copied to local papers of the user’s choice.
- A list of supporters; those outside the groups who support its aims.
With the delay to the publication of the RSS the deadline for the leaflets has been extended to the 18th of July for the completed leaflets to be back with SOGS. It was emphasised that the high level strategy was to get as many responses as possible to John Denham. The preferred route was via the website, but for those who do not have internet access the leaflets can be used. This was the challenge to the groups to achieve this. We will be delivering around the village, if you get a leaflet pass it on at work or to friends.
Once again I have to ask all our supporters to do a little thing, that will contribute to a big effect. Log onto www.saveourgreenspaces.org, click on “What can I do” follow the link to the letter. Check and amend the letter as you see fit and send. You will then be offered the option to copy it to the local papers including the Evening Post and the Clevedon Mercury. I have just done it and it only takes a minute or so. Get your friends and work colleagues to do the same.
The RSS could be back for signature again by the end of the summer. It has not gone away, just been delayed. The campaign is just as important as before the delay.
The airport planning application is in, but not formally registered on the North Somerset website. Apparently, there is a mountain of papers that go with it. The SOGS advice was to use the www.nobristolairportexpansion.co.uk website for advice on supporting their campaign; the site has some very detailed information.
Rod Sterland
HOLA newsletter mid June
Lots happening! First some good news.
SW RSS Delayed
You may have seen in the media that approval of the SW RSS has been delayed. This is a result of a legal challenge to proposals in the South East. At present, it is hard to judge how this may translate to the SW. The judge in the case said that some proposals had not been properly considered, however one proposal for 10,000 houses was not rejected and presumably will go ahead. Although it is good news, it is best to see this as just a delay, although there may be some positive results. I will get a better perspective tomorrow at the SOGS meeting. Our campaign has to continue to try to change the contents of the RSS, in particular to protect the greenbelt.
Save Our Green Spaces Leaflets
The SOGS campaign aims to get more letters to the Secretary of State than were received on the original proposals. Thousands of leaflets have been printed and are being distributed by the groups. At our meeting last night donations were generously made to enable HOLA to purchase at least 1000 to distribute in Long Ashton. Those present agreed some delivery areas, but we need as full a coverage of the village as possible. Please contact me if you could deliver some. I need to know how many to purchase and then to distribute to the deliverers. The aim is to get the leaflets out by the end of June.
HOLA Meeting
It was good to see so many of you at the meeting, especially when there are so many other alternative attractions this time of year.
Georgie Bigg from CPRE updated us on the SOGS campaign and on the legal challenge. She also brought some samples of the SOGS leaflets and stressed the importance of getting large numbers of responses.
The picnic was enjoyed by all and you may have seen the report on BBC Points West. We are hoping to get a copy of the film.
If you missed the Lawrence Lewellyn-Bowen documentary, this is being shown on BBC 4 10th July at 7:30.
The total number of signatures on the petition has reached 1309 on the paper petitions and another 130 on line. This is a great total and shows strong support for our campaign in the village. Many thanks to those who walked the streets and knocked on doors. The will be presented to parliament by Liam Fox and the relevant government department is obliged to give us a reply. We await this with interest.
I will be writing to John Denham, the new Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government noting the petition as an example of the opposition to the RSS. To support this with the North Somerset position, I wrote to Nigel Ashton, leader of North Somerset District Council. In his reply he states unambiguously his opposition to the RSS and he implies that NS have been considering their legal options.
CPRE Greenbelt Survey
CPRE are conducting a survey to support stronger protection for the green belts. If you have not completed the form already, follow the links on the CPRE website (www.CPRE.org.uk). The form is rather long, but its another thing you can do. Deadline 31 July.
Dundry Information Day
The Dundry group is holding an open day on 28th June from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Liam Fox will be there from 3:00 for about an hour. There will be showings of the Lawrence Lewellyn-Bowen documentary and a short film made by Jo Hayward, who is leading the SOGS publicity campaign.
Planning Applications
Bristol Airport has put in its application for its expansion proposals, which extend into green belt. The offer of £4m for transport improvements will have little impact on reducing car use. I noted in the TV interview, with an airport representative, the possible support for the South Bristol Link, which has been shown by transport studies not to have any effect on journey times to the airport.
We also expect proposals for the stadium and the university land very soon.
The delay to the RSS is helpful but will not stop the developers putting in their applications. We will need your help again to get in as many objections as possible. Even if the RSS is further delayed or even cancelled, it will be a long battle to save our village, so stick with it!
Rod Sterland
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