Plane Stupid Scotland: oppose the National Planning Framework

Plane Stupid Scotland have taken to the roof of Holyrood to fight plans that will make it all but impossible to block new roads and runways. Under National Planning Framework (NPF) proposals, Ministers will designate a whole generation of dirty development as 'National Developments', which bypass public or parliamentary approval. The meager consultation exercise on the proposals ends tomorrow, with legislation expected in the autumn.

Ministers plan to lable Edinburgh and Glasgow airport expansions as National Developments, reinforcing existing plans to expand all Scottish airports by 2030. As a blank cheque for massive airport expansion with no scrutiny or accountability, the NPF is recipe for disasters like Heathrow in every major Scottish city.

Plane Stupid Scotland spokesperson Tilly Gifford said:

"The environmental and democratic credibility of this Framework is zero. We are facing a runaway climate threat, but the Scottish Government's reaction is to triple air traffic and use the NPF to gag affected communities. Without reducing aviation's emissions, there will be no future to plan for."

The planned expansion, from 14 million to 50 million passenger movements by 2030, would cause a massive rise in climate change emissions, confirming aviation's position as the fastest growing source of greenhouse-gas emissions in the UK. The program makes a mockery of the NPF's sustainability remit, and of Scotland's target of reducing emissions by 80% by 2050.

Spokesperson Richard Shore added:

"Aviation is destroying our future and retreating into smoke-filled rooms is no solution. You don't get good planning by gagging the people you're planning for. We need democracy, and we need to face the fact that air traffic must shrink."

Plane Stupid Scotland is fed up with Government inaction and white elephants in the face of an unprecedented climate threat. Today's action is the start of concerted action against the National Planning Framework, as part of the growing movement of ordinary people who have decided we must act ourselves to tackle climate change.

Photos by Alice Myers.