Government backs second runway

Dec 16 2003

Birmingham International Airport is to get a second runway by 2016, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling announced this afternoon. The landmark decision delighted business leaders but dismayed residents living nearby. It will mean the partial demolition of historic villages Bickenhill and Catherine de Barnes. BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT The Government's supported plans for another runway at Birmingham International Airport. Is this a shot in the arm for the local economy or an unwanted nuisance for people living nearby? Let us know your thoughts.  Name:  Email:  Street Name:  City Name:  Comments:      Your words may be used by the Evening Mail and The Birmingham Post Mr Darling ruled out the building of a new airport near Rugby, bringing to an end two years of uncertainty and intensive campaigning for locals. Welcoming the news about Birmingham's expansion, John Lamb, from Birmingham Chamber of Commerce said: "We are absolutely delighted - it is crucial to the further development of Birmingham and will allow the business community to move ahead. "Without it the area would have essentially stayed still and we desperately needed improvements to the infrastructure. "Hopefully this might drive further much-needed improvements to the transport network as well. "It is absolutely essential to improve our standing around the rest of Europe." The plan is set to have a massive impact on the countryside, with the loss of up to 600 hectares of green belt and demolition of between 110 and 150 properties in the Bickenhill Conservation Area. The A45 trunk road would be diverted and the expansion would create 15,000 new jobs. Groups the Birmingham Airport Anti Noise Group (BANG) and Solihull Opposing Additional Runways (SOAR) have organised a string of protests. They claim 180,000 homes will be blighted by the noise, with 23 schools having lessons disrupted. Bickenhill village and Catherine de Barnes Lane will be destroyed to make way for a new airport access road and car parking. The eastern edge of Catherine de Barnes village, which appears in the Domesday Book, will also disappear. The announcement today was met with dismay from people living near Birmingham airport. Maggie Throup who has led a campaign of residents in nearby Catherine-de-Barnes, Solihull, against a second runway, said protesters would now try to mount a legal challenge against the Government's plans. "I think this is a dismal day for the whole of Solihull," Mrs Throup said. "This is going to be a nightmare for us to live with. "There is definitely a case for a legal challenge because we have not been consulted about this at all." James Botham, of Birmingham Anti-Noise Group (BANG) said he was relieved that plans for a new airport for the Midlands between Coventry and Rugby had been scrapped. But a second runway for Birmingham would bring misery for residents living in its flight path, he said. Mr Botham added: "Birmingham people have been forgotten and the impact that this runway will have on them will just be swept under the carpet. "But the Government appears to have treated the residents of this city as an acceptable loss."