There have been plans afoot to build a new airport hotel near Bristol Airport recently. But these plans have been vigorously opposed by a group dedicated to stopping it from happening.
You might think that an airport hotel will be good news for those who want to stay at the airport the night before they fly. But in this case it is easy to see why campaigners are against the development.
The main reason seems to be that if the hotel is built, it will happen on a land mass that is currently being used for long term parking facilities. But it gets a little more complicated than that. The issue here is that there are plans in the pipeline to develop and extend the airport in the future. If these plans go ahead the hotel could well turn out to be in the wrong place. And if it doesn’t go ahead the hotel will be taking up valuable parking spaces that may not be able to be rebuilt elsewhere.
The sensible thing to do surely would be to wait until a decision on the future potential expansion of Bristol Airport is made. Once those in power know what is allowed to happen and when, they can decide whether this hotel is in the right place, or whether it needs to be built elsewhere.
Anyone who has ever travelled from Bristol Airport will know how important long stay car parking is if you are going to be away for a few days or more. Not everyone wants to opt for Meet and Greet parking, and not everyone can afford it either. This means that if the hotel was built and some of the parking was lost – even if only temporarily – it could create parking problems for lots of people.
It will be interesting to see whether the parking and the hotel issues resolve themselves, or whether the campaigners will be able to put enough pressure on those in charge to change things. One thing is certain though – if the parking spaces are lost and not regained elsewhere, it could lead to long term problems if the expansion plan is not approved. We shall be watching carefully to see what the outcome is in this situation.
In the meantime the immediate future for parking will be the same at Bristol Airport. It is the longer term situation that is unclear.