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Presentation
by UPROAR to the Introduction:
It is extremely
inappropriate that a new runway system should be developed in a manner
which would bring low flying aircraft directly over houses, gardens,
churches, schools and recreational facilities of our community. The
quality of life for our residents and the hundreds of thousands of visitors
would be seriously impaired. The loss of the amenity of our famous Portmarnock
beach for future generations would be unforgivable and the tourism potential
at local and national level would be seriously damaged. Passenger throughput at Dublin Airport for 2002 was 15.1 million stimulated greatly by the low cost airfare strategies adopted by the airlines. Aer Rianta are now seeking to engage in massive unconstrained development which will bring capacity at Dublin Airport up to 50million, almost 10 times the population of the entire island. Of particular concern is their intention to construct a fourth runway, which they propose to operate before 2010, with associated terminals, apron and taxiway developments and of course acres and acres of additional car parking. These proposed developments represent a nightmare scenario, not just for the people of Portmarnock and other communities surrounding the airport, but also for general commuters in Fingal and indeed throughout the Dublin region. Existing road systems are already under massive strain from the current level of cargo and passenger operations and related traffic. Proposed road and rail developments are merely in a catch up mode to ease the current and unacceptable levels of congestion. We contend that such developments will render Dublin Airport unsustainable in the context of local communities, Fingal county and the greater Dublin area. Sufficient
airfield capacity already exists at Dublin Airport to meet their projected
forecasts for 2020 while the other international and regional airports,
many of whom are already struggling for survival, provide huge levels
of additional capacity. Indeed a systematic approach to the distribution
of air traffic is entirely in accord with current national policies
of rural development and sustainable spatial strategy. To squander tax Fiscal Distortion in the aviation industry
The Irish taxpayer is therefore obliged to meet whatever shortfalls are involved and subsidise the enormous profits being experienced within the industry in Ireland. In times of health cutbacks and reductions in the number of teachers it seems highly inappropriate that the tax system continues to subsidise UK stag parties and the taking of multiple overseas holidays. Dublin
Airport -The Threat Locally Even greater
levels of disruption await those travelling to and from the airport.
The plans for the development of substantial additional housing throughout
Fingal will lead to even greater levels of congestion and conflict between
commuters, passengers, meeters and greeters and tourists. Increased
capacity on the M50, additional roads, metro systems etc. will all quickly
be devoured by the insatiable appetite of the airport, thereby nullifying From a planning perspective one large airport on one side of the city totally unbalances proper planning. More than 50% of passengers are from outside the Dublin area and are required to traverse the city's main arteries for the normal commercial and commuting traffic leading to increasing chaos and congestion. Decentralised industries must retrace their steps and compete for access to an already overloaded road network. The M50's value as a relief road for the city is more and more undermined by airport traffic. All of this traffic represents a grossly inefficient use of economic resources and is totally in conflict with the country's commitments and obligations under the terms of the Kyoto agreement. Dublin
Airport-The Threat Nationally Putting all your eggs in the one basket also represents poor strategic planning and renders the airport vulnerable to issues such as industrial action, security and safety issues and environmental matters. Similar concerns are also arising in the UK:
Dublin
Airport - The Health Threat "A Swedish study finds that aircraft noise causes high blood pressure. People living in areas subjected to high noise levels are 80% more likely to have high blood pressure which in turn leads to heart disease" (Reuters - Attachment 3) "Research on the effects of aircraft noise on children's learning suggests that aircraft noise can interfere with learning in the following areas; reading, motivation, language and speech acquisition and memory" ( Federal Interagency Committee on aircraft noise) "A study of 350 children in Munich, Germany found that when the city airport closed the performance of children in the adjacent school improved significantly while that of children in a school close to the new airport disimproved. Skills such as long-term memory, reading and speech perception were all similarly affected." (Dr. Staffan Hygge, The Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden) "Children around Heathrow Airport exposed to high levels of aircraft noise got annoyed more and had poor reading performances. Children in areas close to airports or underneath some flightpaths are being taught in a disadvantaged learning environment. The findings are consistent with previous studies around Heathrow and with similar studies conducted in Munich, Los Angeles and New York." (Queen Mary College, University of London) Airports and aircraft produce large quantities of toxic emissions in particular Nitrogen Oxides and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's). Research in the USA carried out by the US-EPA has linked VOCs generated by Chicago Midway Airport to elevated rates of cancer caused by air pollution. (Transport 2000 report, January 2001) The European Court of Human Rights last year in a significant determination ruled that residents living underneath the airports' flight paths were being denied a proper private and family life as enshrined in Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention because of noise of night flights. Curfews and restrictions are a normal feature of most international airports although no such obligations apply at Dublin Airport. Dublin
Airport - The Solution Both major Irish airlines which account for almost 80% of Dublin's traffic agree with this conclusion and are also opposed to the new runway proposal as per the attached article (Attachment 4) in the Irish Independent of 9th January 2003. Equally the Commission for Aviation Regulation has refused to provide any element of airport charge for this unnecessary proposal. It is hard to imagine any other industry where the wishes of the customers and the views of the Regulator would be dismissed in such a cavalier fashion. We believe that the current proposal is more influenced by an indecent rush to privatization rather than by any demonstrable customer or passenger demand. In the longer term any additional capacity requirements for the country could be met in a number of ways: (a) Dublin is a rarity in having only one airport. Most comparable cities have at least two. London to Dublin, the biggest international route in the World, sees one Dublin airport serving five in London. Even Belfast has two international airports. (b) A case can be made for a second "Dublin" airport probably located within 40kms of Dublin. A new site close to an existing railway system would be desirable. Such an airport could be the economic engine fundamental to the deliverance of the Government's spatial strategy. We could then end up with two sustainable Dublin airports, each with 20 million passenger throughput, each generating 50,000 jobs and each supporting 100 businesses on their campus. (c) The
existing regional airports would also welcome the redistribution of
traffic which would arise from the capping of Dublin Airport. No amount
of nostalgia or wishful thinking will bring this redistribution about
without this strategic and decisive decision. Portmarnock community through UPROAR makes no apology for its efforts to ensure that the new runway proposal is squashed. We have already outlined the reasons for our concerns and opposition. A petition signed by more than 4,000 people representing almost the entire adult population of Portmarnock has been forwarded to an Taoiseach. A massive public meeting voted unanimously to oppose this development. All of the public representatives at national and local level have voiced their total and unconditional support for our campaign. Recent positive meetings have also taken place with Mr. Seamus Brennan, the Minister for Transport, and with Mr. Willie Soffe, County Manager Fingal, both of whom have agreed to take our representations into their future considerations. An alliance of community associations surrounding Dublin Airport has now been formed to oppose these developments and to consider appropriate forms of collective action which may be taken. (Attachment 5) A new runway development would make Dublin Airport operations unsustainable, would turn an asset into a liability and would destroy the quality of life and damage the health of people living near the airport, especially those under the proposed new flight path. It would seriously impair the educational standards of children in our area and would greatly interfere with the recreational pursuits of residents and visitors to our famous beach and golf courses. On the broader level we believe that the uncontrolled growth of the airport represents the kiss of death for all ambitions to promote rural development and to achieve a proper balance in terms of spatial strategy. Accordingly we are seeking the support of this prestigious committee in protecting our quality of life and in seeing the opportunities which this situation presents to correct the bias and the imbalance in economic development which a new runway construction would cause. We are seeking the cessation of any further work on the construction of a new runway and for the implementation of an appropriate study and forum into how the future needs of the country can be met. "Whether [the growth in air traffic] is to be achieved in the context of the present Aer Rianta monopoly or with the three airports in competition is a matter for debate. There should be no debate however about whether Dublin Airport should be allowed to continue to expand exponentially at the expense of the other regions. There is a pressing need to redistribute tourism spending more equitably across the regions and in any case the present overcrowding around our largest airport is driving us all a bit crazy." |
Huge
sums of money have been spent on building motorways catering for traffic
caused by the airport. Aer Rianta are currently demanding yet more by
way of a metro system costing billions of Euros. In other countries
the trend is towards airports directly funding their own infrastructure
(e.g. London-Paddington funded by the British Airports Authority). If
Aer Rianta has surplus funds for unnecessary developments then these
could be more wisely invested in addressing existing shortfalls in road
and rail infrastructure. Dividends paid to the exchequer represent a
mere drop in the ocean compared to the infrastructural and environmental
costs which it has caused to be incurred.