This was never going to be an easy situation that would be resolved without argument in a short period of time. Whenever an airport proposes that it will expand, there are plenty of people who will come out fighting to try and prevent that from happening.
Such is the case with Bristol Airport at the moment. A dedicated band of protesters – known by the name Stop Bristol Airport Expansion – have long campaigned against the expansion happening at all. But it would seem that their protests have recently taken a different turn.
The airport caters for millions of passengers every year. The figure back in 2008 was six million all in all. And it is this aspect of the fight that the protesters have now focused their attentions on.
In recent meetings to discuss the potential future of Bristol Airport, it became clear that something of a change has occurred. It could be that the protesters have got the feeling that the go ahead is about to be given to expand the airport. Either that or they wanted to get in another point of view before it was too late to do so.
Apparently they stated that if the plans were to go ahead, they should only do so if a cap was put on the volume of passengers using the airport each year. The cap they want is eight million – just two million more than the airport handled last year.
But will this happen? And does it signal a change of heart for the protesters? It could be that they feel the battle is slipping away from them, and in a last ditch attempt to at least minimise the damage they have suggested this course of action.
Many of the people involved with the protest live locally and are directly affected by the airport in many ways. This is the case now, so it is not surprising that they should vehemently protest against any expansion. This is because any such plans will only make the situation worse. As with many other airports, people are living underneath flight paths and have to put up with noise from passing aircraft throughout the day and most of the night as well. And the traffic created as people journey to the airport also has a profound effect. It must be very difficult to live under those conditions every single day.
It remains to be seen what will happen in the long term. Ideally no expansion at all would delight the campaigners. But it seems as if that option may be about to leave the table. It could still be rejected but since every angle is being looked at it is only one of a number of possible outcomes.
It will be interesting to see what happens and what the opinions are once any decision has been made. But until then we must simply wait to find out what happens next. And those living locally will be hoping their lives are not adversely affected any more than they are at the moment.