Plane Stupid Scotland: BAA ASBO crackdown

What would you do if your neighbour blasted loud noise every couple of minutes until late in the night; pumped toxic gases into the air and generally went out of their way to be anti-social? Welcome to the world of Clydebank residents, living near Glasgow airport. Sick of BAA dismissing their complaints as "isolated occurrences", they've banded together and demanded BAA be served with an ASBO.

This is one of the first outcomes of the Airportwatch Scotland's 'PlaneSpeaking' community mobilisation against airport expansion. Whilst Clydebank slaps an ASBO on BAA, other activists are working with airport staff on 'just transition' issues. Meanwhile other locals are plotting hard, with talk of mass kite-flying or balloon-releasing activities (which could ground planes for 'health and safety'). Watch this space...

Instead of tackling the problems residents suffer from, the Scottish Parliament is pushing ahead with its National Planning Framework (NPF) expansion proposals, which would classify airport expansion as incontestable "projects of National Interest". It's also ignoring demands for international aviation to be included in the Climate Bill. Faced with this stonewalling, Scottish communities are growing militant. 2009 looks to be an interesting year...

P.s.: anti-social behaviour is "behaviour that causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more people who are not in the same household as the perpetrator." Sounds like they've got them bang to rights, eh readers?