We'll keep fighting
October 26 , 2011
High Court Judge Mr Justice Collins today turned down SBAE's application for a judicial review into the May 2010 decision by North Somerset Council to allow the airport to add an extra four million to its passenger numbers.
We are disappointed and surprised by the judge's decision to refuse a judicial review but we will continue to scrutinise the airport's plans to ensure that the 70 conditions attached to the planning permission are fully met.
Bill Bryson presents anti-airport expansion campaigners with award
July 14 , 2011
Stop Bristol Airport Expansion has received national recognition for its work opposing the proposed plans to increase airport traffic at Bristol International Airport from six million passengers to ten million passengers by 2019.
Fight against airport’s expansion far from over
April 26, 2011
Stop Bristol Airport Expansion (SBAE) is submitting a request for a Judicial Review to take our case to the high courts. Our lawyers are confident there is a strong case against the airport’s plans, which would see it nearly double in size with serious impacts for local communities and the environment.
Government agrees we were right on climate change
April 1, 2011
Transport Secretary Phil Hammond has condemned Labour’s 2003 Aviation White Paper, on which Bristol Airport’s planning permission was based, as "fundamentally out-of-date". Speaking as he launched the Government’s Scoping Document, which marks the start of the process for drawing up a new aviation policy,1 he said the previous government had "got the balance wrong" because it failed to give enough weight to climate change and the local environmental impacts of aviation.
Airport boss's tax complaints insult working families
March 8, 2011
Bristol Airport Chief Robert Sinclairʼs complaints about a passenger ʻstealthʼ tax are nonsensical and insulting: the aviation industry does not pay any duty or VAT on aircraft fuel yet hard working families face rising motor fuel taxation on essential journeys.
The real fight starts now!
June 14, 2010
Please help us build a fighting fund to pay legal costs to continue challenging the flawed decision to allow the airport to expand.
Airport expansion now depends on the Secretary of State
May 24, 2010
Stop Bristol Airport Expansion today said it would be urging the Secretary of State to hold a public inquiry into the expansion of Bristol Airport, following referral by North Somerset Council.
Councillors on the Planning and Regulation Committee voted to approve the expansion plans, subject to conditions, including referral to the Secretary of State.
North Somerset is asking the Government to consider the impact of the expansion on climate change – and to rule on airport’s plans to build a car park on the green belt.
BIA's planning application
What BIA is planning »
Planes and climate change »
Night flights »
Read the PCAA's response 
(1.6 Mb)
Read our summary of the faults in the economics report »
Airport job claims are overstated 
(184 Kb)
Read our response to BIA's climate claims »
Read the BIA expansion plans in full »
Relevance of Heathrow ruling to BIA expansion
April 12, 2010
The recent judicial review of the Government's plans to expand Heathrow criticised the validity of the economic case used in the Air Transport White Paper due to changes that have happened since, and in particular to changes in Government policy on climate change. It also criticised the incorrect costing of the surface access improvements needed. Both of these areas are relevant to the BIA application, and further invalidate the economic arguments for expansion.
Heathrow Ruling Throws Bristol Airport Expansion into Doubt
March 26, 2010
A High Court Judge has ruled that because the Government’s 2003 aviation policy did not fully take into account the effects of climate change, it is not compatible with the Climate Change Act 2008 – effectively making the 2003 policy obsolete. The government’s 2003 policy has been used by North Somerset Council to set its own planning policies regarding the airport.
The judge, who was ruling on the Heathrow expansion, also said the impact of increased emissions from airport expansion was also likely to significantly affect the economic case.
Decision still in the balance
Mar 4. 2010
NSC have done the responsible thing in referring the BIA’s planning application to a more senior planning committee as district councillors made it very clear that the application still has many serious unresolved issues.
Airport decision should be postponed
Mar 1, 2010
NSC’s South Area Meeting cannot make a decision at this point because new recommendations from North Somerset Council on night flights will introduce changes to the night noise quota system without any consultation with the public. These changes also go against widely documented promises from BIA not to change the basis of the night noise quota system.
Furthermore, the Biodiversity
Action Plan and the Carbon Management plan have not been made available in time for the
public to view and comment, and the staff travel plan for all employees on BIA’s site is
still incomplete.
Campaigners ask Government to step in on airport decision
Jan 27, 2010
SBAE has asked the Government of the South West (GOSW) to step in and refer the decision on the airport’s plans to the Secretary of State. We have decided to request a ‘call-in’, which would result in a direct decision from Government, or a public inquiry, because the ramifications of the decision, such as the impact of increased traffic, noise and carbon emissions, stretch beyond North Somerset Council’s area of control.
Read our press release (176 Kb)
Government report slams brakes on Bristol airport plans
Dec 8, 2009
The Government's Committee on Climate Change has published a new report on aviation advising that in order to meet UK carbon targets we must limit expansion, cut flights, raise ticket prices, and boost rail and video-conferencing
Read our press release (168 Kb)
Would expanding BIA impact air passenger "leakage"?
Nov 30, 2009
"Leakage" is the term used to describe how air passengers who could use BIA but for various reasons use Heathrow or other South East airports. Our analysis shows that using leakage as an excuse for local expansion, especially on environmental grounds, is flawed and irresponsible.
New report challenges tourism claims
Nov 18, 2009
A new analysis of tourism figures for the South West by SBAE's Jeremy Birch reveals "...there is strong evidence that previous expansion at BIA has meant lower domestic tourist income and has only partly compensated for this by bringing inbound tourists. Future expansion would continue this pattern, taking money away from the South West tourism, leisure and other sectors."
Read "Tourism in the South West, its impacts and the relevance of Bristol International Airport" (172 Kb)
Read our press release "Local tourism jobs lose out with airport growth" (176 Kb)
Councillors opposed to airport development on Green Belt
Oct 16, 2009
Councillors at last night's West Area committee meeting expressed strong opposition to any plans by Bristol Airport to extend its car parks onto Green Belt land as part of its proposed expansion.
They also called for improved infrastructure and new transport links to be in place before the airportʼs expansion goes ahead, echoing the grave concern of North and Central Area committees last week that the areaʼs already overloaded road system is completely inadequate to absorb the increase in traffic caused by expanding the airport.
Read our press release (172 Kb)
Regional development agency raises concerns over airport expansion
Oct 5 , 2009
The South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) has raised major concerns about the economic benefits weighed against the climate change implications of Bristol airport’s expansion plans, a “hugely significant” position statement
Australian owners sell stake in BIA
Sept 16, 2009
The Australian investment firm Macquarie Airports (MAp) has sold its 35.5% share in Bristol International Airport, saying its investors interests were better served elsewhere .
BANES calls for airport expansion plans to be refused
Sept 10, 2009
Councillors from the Bath And North East Somerset council (BANES) voted in favour of a motion, proposed by 23-year-old councillor Nick Coombes, to inform North Somerset Council:
”That Bath and North East Somerset considers causes and effects of Climate Change should be a major consideration in a development of this nature and therefore recommends that the airport expansion application should be refused on these grounds.”
Flying more is not an option Government advisers warn
Sept 9, 2009
A letter to the Government from Adair Turner, chair of
the government’s Committee on Climate Change makes it clear that Aviation CO2 emissions should be capped.
Bristol City Council objects to airport expansion plans
Aug 24, 2009
Bristol City Council has lodged a formal objection to plans to expand Bristol International Airport, because of concerns over night noise, traffic pollution and climate change
Read BCC's objection letter to NSC »
Read our press release about BCC's objection »
Bristol airport planes off track
Aug 6, 2009
This dramatic image shows just how many flights from BIA are spreading out from standard flight paths.
The image is a map of the Bristol, Bath and Chew Valley area on which flights departing from BIA are shown alongside the standard paths for BIA during one week from 28 May 2009 (overlapping the school half-term holidays)]. While some variations are allowed to the regular flight paths, this data illustrates just how wide an area flights from BIA have covered. It is likely that planes travelling wide of their regular flight paths will become much more frequent if the airport is allowed to expand.
Who's picking up the tab?
Aug 4, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWfb0VMCQHE
Bristol Airport expansion: bad for noise
July 4, 2009
Public health doctors argue the case against expanding Bristol's Airport
May 28, 2009
Read the article in the Bristol Evening Post online »
Airport has lost all justification for increasing carbon emissions
April 7, 2009
Bristol airport will no longer be able to rely on the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to compensate for the huge increases in carbon emissions from its planned increase in flights because the aviation industry itself has pulled its backing from the scheme, say campaigners.
Strong welcome for Bristol council's message on airport: don't increase carbon emissions
Mar 30, 2009
The motion, passed unanimously by Bristol City Council last night, stated:
"....in line with the City Council's commitment to the Nottingham Declaration, which requires 60% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, and also taking into account of the greater target of 80% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions introduced by the Climate Change Act 2008, this council believes that BIA should focus on becoming economically and environmentally sustainable without further increasing emissions and other external impacts."
Why Airport Expansion is Bad for the Economy
Mar 23, 2009
Read our press release »
Download our presentation on the airport's plans »
Airport expansion will destroy jobs in South West, new study reveals
Mar 11, 2009
Published today by the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF), the study by economist Brendon Sewill of the employment provided by airports and airlines shows that more jobs will be lost in the region as an increased number of British people make more use of cheap flights to spend their money abroad.
Read our press release »
Read the report in full (420 Kb)
"Flying: the facts" by the Government backed Energy Saving Trust
Feb 12, 2009
www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Travel/Flying-the-facts »
Read more news stories »
Recent Press releases
Request for judicial review refused
October 26, 2011
Bill Bryson presents anti-airport expansion campaigners with award
July 14, 2011
Fight against airport’s expansion far from over
April 26, 2011
Government agrees we were right on climate change
April 1, 2011
Airport boss's tax complaints insult working families
March 8, 2011
The real fight starts now
June 14, 2010
Airport expansion now depends on the Secretary of State
May 24, 2010
SBAE urges councillors to reject airport expansion plans
May 24, 2010
Read more press releases »
Presentations
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Photos courtesy of Richard Bullen