My Right Wing Agenda

Today I had OSM (Overview and Scrutiny) and it was a special meeting, evidence gathering for the Airport. The basic problem is that for the airport to stay as a level 2 airport the run-off at each end of the runway needed to be extended. If this didn't happen then it was quite probable that in a couple of years the CAA would require the Airport to downgrade its "runway length" and the long and short of that would be it could no longer accept the executive jets which would mean a lot of related work and jobs would go. Fortunately the Committee was unanimous in the support of the airport. It was the most interesting meeting I've been to yet, lots of people there speaking for and against. The business leaders and the Airport directors made a very good case for the Airport Runway safety zone. On the against side the arguments were mainly by the environment lobby, though some residents were concerned about extra noise. However with the Airport and both councils putting it on record that the opening hours won't change and the estimate number of extra trips was minimal this shouldn't be too much of an issue.

I think the Airport as time goes on will become more and more important to the economy of the County and will bring direct benefits to the city to, especially as business users fly in and out for business meetings etc. And with the road network getting more and more clogged up I guess flying in and out will start to be a no-brainer. Whilst the Airport has no intention of expanding its commercial carrier type flights, it would be kinda kewl if you get on a small (40-70 seater is all the airport will ever be able to accommodate) jet and hopping over to Ireland or Belgium or similar distanced cities or even just inter British Cities such as Edinburgh, but I think I'm just dreaming at the moment.

With it making it through OSM and now its off to Cabinet, the Airport being successful is just another step towards making Gloucester a Great City!