Balancing growth and quality of life

Our Man in Europe by Thanet Euro MP Mark Watts

Isle of Thanet Gazette 20th July 2001

    As you look skyward at the vapour trails of planes criss-crossing. the sky over Thanet it sometimes appears that planes are a little too close for comfort.
    Well, in a few months time, close becomes even closer as the minimum separation distance for certain aircraft flying over us is halved to just 305 metres. So, when it looks like aircraft are close, it is because they are!
    This is just one of a series of European measures to tackle increasing aircraft delays.
    Indeed, in Europe today, one night in three is not on time.
    The average delay exceeds 20 minutes and for thousands of package holidaymakers this summer, the delays will be measured in hours not minutes.
    This situation angers passengers, it frustrates airlines, creates costs to the economy, over and above lost business and ruined holidays. It damages, perhaps irreparably, the environment.
    It is estimated that planes in Europe spent 500,000 hours in holding patterns last year, wasting more than one million tons of jet fuel, at a cost of more than £3 billion.
    However, even the dramatic reduction in minimum separation will have little impact on the sheer scale of the problem, best illustrated by the extraordinary growth in flights.
    Over the past 20 years, the number of passengers carried into and out of airports in this region trebled, and UK air forecasts show that demand will more than double over the next 15 years.
    One of the most significant causes of delay in the southeast is the inescapable fact that we are desperately short of runway capacity; which has remained almost unchanged for 50 years.
    Gatwick's single runway is already the busiest in the world and a voluntary ban on expansion is in force until 2019.
    At Heathrow, where aircraft land every 90 seconds, limits on expansion has resulted in growth that falls well short of Continental rivals.
    Indeed;-there is now a real risk that its premier position, so important to the regional economy; is likely to be lost to airports such as Amsterdam or Paris which have considerable scope for additional traffic.
    The smaller regional airports - such as London Manston Airport - can perhaps help, but as soon as the decision on Terminal 5 at Heathrow is announced -which is likely to be very soon -the focus will switch to the consideration of a new runway in the south east.
    As your Euro Mp, with responsibility for transport, I will be charged with influencing the outcome of perhaps one of the most difficult decisions we face.
    Together, we need to find a solution which strikes a balance between economic development and the quality of life.