"Europe-wide fight over UK airport expansion"

Friday, October 15, 2004

Europe-wide fight over airport expansion
UNITED KINGDOM - THE LEICESTER MERCURY


They are hoping to halt the growth of the airline industry, including plans
by Nottingham East Midlands Airport to route aircraft over large parts of
Leicestershire.

The campaigners, from across the continent, are organising a petition in a
bid to get their governments and the European Parliament to take notice.

Thousands of copies of the petition are being distributed to groups and
individuals across the country and organisers have set up a website where
people can leave their names.

It is being backed by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, People and the
Planet, Rising Tide and Transport 2000.

Callie Lister, of East Midlands Friends of the Earth, said: "We know that
the aviation industry is a huge contributor of man-made emissions, which in
turn leads to climate change. There are people living, particularly in our
countryside across Leicestershire, who don't presently have aircraft going
overhead, and it will be a real shock for them if the flight paths go ahead.

"Many of those people moved to those areas because it was so quiet, but
instead they could be in for disturbed nights." In August, airport bosses at
East Midlands agreed to carry out fresh consultations after residents and
councils said they had not been given enough information.

The flight paths, expected to be used from November, will not be adopted
until spring at the earliest.

The airport says the new routes are necessary for safety reasons and will
see aircraft diverted from the areas with the largest populations.


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