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The Greens on Bristol City Council are putting forward a motion at a meeting of the full council next week, calling on the council to oppose further expansion of Bristol Airport.
Bristol City Council declared a climate emergency in 2018 after a motion was put forward by the Green group. The Council also passed a Green motion in 2020 opposing the airport’s previous expansion plans.
Bristol Airport currently has permission to expand from 10 million to 12 million passengers a year, which has yet to be implemented. They are now intending to submit a planning application for a further expansion to 15 million passengers per year.
The Green motion, put forward by Cllr Izzy Russell, calls on the council to:
Cllr Russell said, “Last time the airport applied to expand there was widespread opposition, both politically and from residents, and this time is no different. Bath and North East Somerset Council recently passed a motion to oppose expansion, and we hope to join them by passing this motion.
“Limiting airport expansion is not about penalising people who fly once or even twice a year. 63% of the new passenger traffic seen over the past two decades has been caused by frequent and even ultra frequent flyers. This is the 3% of the UK population that take nearly 30% of all flights, while the number of UK residents not flying at all each year has increased in the same period.
“This simply isn’t fair. A few rich frequent flyers are emitting more and more emissions while the rest of us are here directly feeling the results of the climate crisis. What’s worse is that the Government is not making polluters pay their fair share. Anyone with a car has paid more in fuel duty the last time they filled up than the entire aviation industry ever has.
“And guilt-free flying is pie in the sky thinking. So-called sustainable aviation fuel makes up less than 3% of total aviation fuel, and electric and hydrogen planes are not feasible anytime soon.”
“So as well as opposing the expansion of Bristol Airport, this motion calls for air transport to be managed in an equitable way that is compatible with the wider social and environmental objectives of this Council and the Government’s legally binding net-zero targets.”
Cllr Serena Ralston, who will second the motion said, “Aviation now causes more emissions than the UK’s entire electricity supply and poses a risk to the UK’s emissions targets, according to the recent Climate Change Committee’s 2025 progress report.”
The motion, which quotes work conducted by the New Economics Foundation on the economics of airport expansion, states that “there are no more jobs now in the aviation sector in the UK than there were 20 years ago, and the boom in air travel from 2015 to 2019 failed to increase UK productivity or GDP growth, while the market share of business air travel – a key argument for expansion – has declined by 50% since 2013.”
Cllr Ralston added: “Airport expansion makes no sense from an environmental, social or economic perspective. There is no link between increased air travel and increased productivity or GDP. In fact, the UK operates a tourism deficit, which means more people leave the UK on holiday than come in.
“The airport appears to have an insatiable appetite for growth. The only benefit of expansion is to the airport owners.
“While mass transit to the airport remains a fantasy, the expansion will mean many more people paying to park which makes up 30% of the airport’s revenue. Meanwhile, local people will have to put up with congested roads, and increased noise from more frequent flights.
“People and planet must come before profit. We call on the government to take the climate crisis seriously. They must introduce a new charge on ultra-frequent flyers, higher taxes on carbon emissions and pause all airport expansions until the consequences of the increased emissions are properly considered.”
Notes for editors:
Serena has lived locally for almost 30 years and has great experience from her background in town planning, PR and journalism.
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