Publicity & Politics News
Below are links to stories on protests, publicity events and other aviation stories that have hit the news.
Over 4,000 take part in Frankfurt’s 100th protest evening – including supporters from Heathrow and Gatwick
The 4th runway at Frankfurt airport was opened in October 2011. The flightpaths for this runway overfly thousands of residents in the Frankfurt, many of whom had not previously been overflown. They suddenly found the noise of aircraft overhead every few minutes, relentlessly (day after day, week after week) for most of the day intolerable. Other areas were also affected by changes to flight paths. Ever since the opening, the people of Frankfurt have absolutely refused to accept this, and have campaigned continuously and relentlessly. They hold unique and remarkable protests, almost every Monday night, in the airport terminal. These are attended by well over 1,000 people, every time. On 19th May, the 100th airport terminal protest was held, with around 4,000 (maybe more) protesters. Some campaigners from the Heathrow and Gatwick campaigns went out (by train) to show solidarity and share this remarkable achievement with their German friends. John Stewart, Chair of HACAN and of AirportWatch, addressed the protest, saying they were making aviation history, and the tenacity, persistence and determination of the opposition to Frankfurt flights is increasingly a matter of concern to the aviation industry.
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“Gatwick Obviously” adverts on the tube not merely subvertised but now substituted
Gatwick airport has produced a huge number of adverts, on bill boards, on underground stations, and on underground trains. The campaign must have cost a vast amount of money. The theme of the adverts has been "Gatwick Obviously" in their attempt to influence first the thinking of the Airports Commission, and then also the next Government - which will have to decide what to do with the Commission's report after summer/autumn 2015. The Gatwick adverts have suffered from being subvertised, but on Monday 19th around 200 on the underground were replaced with substitutes - by Plane Stupid. The temptation must just have been too strong ....
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Anti-third runway campaigners “put the boot in” at Westminster with a protest football game
Protesters - from the villages of Harmondsworth and Longford (to be destroyed by Heathrow's 3rd runway plan) played a protest football game on the green outside the Houses of Parliament. This was to highlight the "broken promises" of David Cameron over his "No ifs, no buts, no third runway" commitment to no expansion at Heathrow at the last election. The residents of the 2 villages feel they have been "kicked into the long grass" over new Heathrow expansion plans. The villagers travelled from west London too Westminster with Channel 5 TV cameras in tow, to set up their jumpers for goalposts on the green overlooked by Parliament. The team wore England shirts, with past quotes from senior politicians affirming cross-party opposition to a third runway emblazoned on their backs.The football organiser said "We will practice our kicking into the long grass, and our U-turns. The Conservative Government made promises that there would be no third runway before they were elected, and now it looks like they are going back on their word. If we can't believe them on this issue, how can we believe them about anything?"
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Aviation lobby form new pressure group, “Runways UK” with large conference in January
The aviation industry must be a bit alarmed about its prospects of getting another runway, or more than one, in the south east of England. It has formed a new lobbying organisation, this one being called Runways UK, in order to fight its case and put pressure on government and political parties to get building, after 2015. They plan to hold a large conference ("an entirely impartial event") in London, on 16th January 2014, which they are calling the inaugural Runways UK. This will be shortly after the Airports Commission makes its interim report, in December, on whether new runway capacity is actually needed, and which schemes to short list for further detailed consideration. The conference will be very pricey, if the cost of sponsoring part of it is anything to go by. Tickets are not yet on sale. They intend to hold a similar conference annually. The lobby group says of its advisory board that it "comprises a combination of luminaries, appropriate institutions and associations and commercial partners2 including its Chair, Baroness Brenda Dean (trade unionist), Baroness Jo Valentine, Chief Executive of London First, and Michèle Dix, Managing Director of Planning at TfL. Plus many aviation lobby executives.
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Notre-Dame-des-Landes: 1,000 kites “occupy” the sky – symbolic of opponents’ determination to keep it free of planes
On Sunday 4th August, as many as 8,000 people gathered at Notre Dame des Landes as part of a weekend of protest against the planned new airport for Nantes. People have again come from all over France to show their support for the airport opposition. In the morning, they flew some 1,000 or so kites, many that had been made in preceding weeks and many with slogans on them. The aim of the kite flying was symbolically to occupy the skies and show that the skies above the Notre Dame des Landes bocage countryside (the site chosen for the kite flying is due to be an airport terminal) are free; the campaigners intend these skies to remain free from planes. Some of the kites read, in French, "Pour que nos libertés occupent le ciel" and "Le ciel libre aux hommes libres" ("For our freedom occupy the sky", "Free sky to free men" ). The two day gathering had a festival atmosphere, with music (musicians playing under a sign that read "Un aéroport à NDDL, jamais !") and also lectures and speeches. ACIPA has been organized a summer gathering for 13 years on the same site, but this was the largest yet.
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Munich conference – airport residents’ campaigns across Europe connect their fight against the aviation lobby
Over 250 people from across Europe attended the European Aviation Campaigners Conference in Munich at the weekend, where they heard accounts of campaigners against expansion in many different countries. The conference produced a manifesto which included a call for an end to night flights and an end to tax-breaks for the aviation industry. The conference also had sessions on effective campaigning, including direct action. Those who attended the conference came away inspired. They were in no doubt that the conference will stimulate collective across Europe to campaign for change. The united call is to ‘tame the aviation industry’. There is an English version of the Manifesto.
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Huge rally against Heathrow expansion – if allowed it would face opposition on a truly massive scale
Over a thousand people attended a rally in Barnes, against the possible expansion of Heathrow. The rally was organised by Zac Goldsmith, and attended by Mayor of London Boris Johnson. Boris said he thought the Conservatives "would be utterly nuts to go into the next election with the possibility of a Heathrow third runway on the table." [However, unfortunately Boris thinks the alternatives offered by Gatwick, Stansted and two sites in the Thames Estuary should be concentrated on. Worryingly, he seems to favour expansion at Stansted, and have little concern about aviation's carbon emissions]. Boris told the rally that a 3rd runway at Heathrow was "just too difficult to deliver - 15 years at least it would take to bring about. “Above all you would be inflicting noise pollution not just on west London but on huge parts of London that don’t even know they are going to be affected. That is not the right way forward for the greatest city on earth.” Zac said the opponents of a 3rd runway will continue to make clear their opposition to further expansion, and he wants "ministers to be left in no doubt that if they give expansion a green light, they will face a campaign on a truly massive scale.”
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Bed protest. Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire residents call for a cut in Luton airport night flights
A group of protestors arrived at Luton Borough Council on 15th February to deliver a bed signed by people who are fed up with night noise from Luton Airport. The BANN (Beds Against Night Noise) protest was given good media coverage and made the point that it’s not only Hertfordshire which suffers noise and disturbance – plenty of residents in Bedfordshire are also woken up by late night arrivals, cargo planes and early morning departures. One of the protesters said the PR spin in Luton airport's Master Plan claimed they would ”consult” the public, and they were taking noise seriously by adding 6 new noise mitigations. However, those so-called mitigations would only affect a fraction of 1% of the total flights – and Luton plans to double night flights between 10pm and midnight and start the morning departure rush at 5am, which is utterly unacceptable. Local people are now demanding that there is legislation to control night flights at Luton in the same way as at other London airports. There is currently a petition to significantly reduce night flights at Luton, not increase them.
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Grow Heathrow campaigners fight eviction at High Court
A group of young people, calling themselves "Grow Heathrow", set up a market garden and informal community on squatted land in Sipson in 2010. The land had been derelict and was not being used by its owner, Mr Malik. He has been attempting to remove the squtters, who are environmental activists, for the past two years or more. The case for their eviction went to the High Court on Tuesday 15th January. Grow Heathrow say their case is an important challenge to the idea that landlords can leave land empty in the middle of a housing crisis. Mr Malik was given the judgement of possession in July. The basis of Grow Heathrow's appeal is Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is the right to have a home and family life. On the one hand, Grow Heathrow say they have added "social value" of the garden while it is wrong to keep the owner out of land for which he had paid a six-figure sum. Given the widespread importance of the issues raised by the case, Lords Justice Ward, Lloyd and Toulson are expected to reserve their decision until a later date - probably 14th February.
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Protest wildlife walk against the proposed World Logistics Hub at Manchester airport
On Saturday 3rd November around 100 local residents and campaigners took part in a protest walk against the proposed £100m World Logistics Hub at Manchester Airport. The protesters braved the cold to take a route around the 90 acre former greenbelt site, which is threatened by the plans to build 43 cargo sheds and almost 1,500 car parking spaces. Local residents, wildlife enthusiasts and environmental campaigners spoke at various points along the walk, sharing their experiences of fighting Manchester Airport expansion and highlighting the numerous ways that the plans would affect local people and the environment. The Wildlife Walk came the week after the Wythenshawe Area Committee ‘recommended for approval’ the World Logistics Hub plans, on the 25th October. The application will now be sent to the Planning and Highways Committee at Manchester City Council for a final decision on 22nd November 2012. Campaigners argue that job creation figures proposed by the airport are inflated.