Planestupid Scotland recently discovered that the Scottish national planning framework - which completely failed to consult the general public despite a period of consultation - now includes plans to expand Prestwick and Aberdeen airports. The Scottish Government now plans to expand four airports in a country of just over 5 million people - pure dead ecological madness.
Prestwick airport predicts that passenger numbers will more than double in the next ten years, rising as high as 12 million passengers by 2033. BAA also plans to increase Aberdeen's contribution to climate change to 5.9 million passengers / year by 2030. The recent road transport strategy also called for massive investment in roads at the expense of much needed public transport services. So much for much-hyped plans to reduce CO2 emissions - the Scottish Exec is determined to set runaway climate change into the tarmac.
With climate concerns are off the radar the only thing BAA has left to ruin are the lives of communities surrounding the four airports. The operator claims to care about the community: BAA Aberdeen are proud to have “a strong commitment to the communities around our airport and aim to address issues of prime local concern.” If that commitment includes disruption of school classes every five minutes, massive increases in air pollution and reduction in housing prices at a time of economic recession then BAA Aberdeen is doing a sterling job already - even without all their planned expansion.
