Why Lydd Airport Action Group (LAAG) is Opposed to the
Large Scale
Development of Lydd Airport
Lydd Airport is proposing to become a regional airport to cater for 2million
passengers per annum (mppa) by 2015. The airport has submitted two planning
applications for the first phase of this development - one to extend its runway
by 444m with an Environmental Statement (ES) based on passenger numbers of
300,000per annum, and the other for a new terminal with an ES based on 500,000
passengers per annum.
LAAG is vigorously opposed to the expansion for the following reasons:
(1) There is no case for a second regional airport in Kent as Kent already has
Manston Airport - a large, underutilised regional airport with one of the
largest runways in the UK supported by superior road and rail infrastructure.
(2) Lydd Airport is surrounded by protected habitats designated under UK and
European laws, reflecting the unique nature of the Dungeness shingle peninsular.
In addition to the new and recently enlarged Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye
Bay, Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) there are three European
designations - a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), a Special Protection Area
(SPA) and a proposed RAMSAR site. The land also supports an important RSPB bird
reserve. The runway extension and safety margins will directly impinge on the
SSSI and SAC while the Dungeness area at large will be affected by noise,
disturbance and air pollution leading to the loss of rare species and the
reduction in the ecological significance of the area.
(3) The airport will be solely served by road. The road infrastructure in the
Romney Marsh area and in East Sussex is poor and is already struggling to cope
with the existing flow of traffic - bottlenecks occur at Junction 10 of the M20
in Kent and on the A259 at Rye in East Sussex.
(4) There is a serious public safety issue associated with this development.
Large 70 tonne jets such as the Boeing 737 will be taking off and landing within
3 miles of the Dungeness nuclear complex which means the risk of crash damage
will be high. The nuclear safety consultant, John Large, believes that the
existing Dungeness A and B nuclear power stations are vulnerable to aircraft
crash damage with the potential for radioactive release.
(5) Dungeness is under the main migratory bird route in the South of England so
that the risk of bird strike is high. Birds feed in the area on route to other
destinations and the water on either side of the Lydd/Dungeness road attracts
substantial numbers of large water birds.
(6) Low cost airlines lead to direct employment of around 300 people per million
passengers carried, not the figure of 600 per million passengers projected by
the Lydd Airport’s management and the numbers will continue to decline with
advances in technology. This is a gross figure and takes no account of the loss
of employment caused by the growth of the airport, particularly in the tourist
industry along the coast of Romney Marsh.
(7) Lydd Airport’s ambition to become a regional airport will jeopardise the
planning application for Dungeness C. If a regional airport is established the
frequent movement of large jets and numbers of people in the area will make the
case for establishing a new nuclear power station tenuous, thus jeopardising the
one source of high quality employment on Romney Marsh.
Louise Barton
Lydd Airport Action Group
www.lyddairportaction.co.uk
Article from Go Folkestone Newsletter June 2007
