More than a hundred local residents and environmental campaigners came to the Civil Court in Bristol today (Tuesday) in a colourful and passionate protest against the plans to expand Bristol Airport.
Inside the court building, a special session of the High Court began a two-day appeal launched by the Bristol Airport Action Network, who are mounting a legal challenge against the Government’s decision to grant the airport planning permission for their expansion plans earlier this year.
Outside the court, a coalition of people who live around Bristol Airport, and environmental campaigners from Bristol and the region, gathered for a vigil, protest, rally and to hear speeches by campaigners and residents.
Read more: Bristol Airport Flyer bus blockaded by teenage Extinction Rebellion activists
Bristol Airport’s initial proposal for an extended airport terminal, and an increase in capacity from around nine million passengers a year to 12 million, was refused planning permission by North Somerset Council’s planners back in January 2020. The airport’s owners - the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund - appealed to the government, and a planning inspector overturned that decision and granted permission in February this year.
Outside court today the protesters kept up the presence all day, and pledged to be back on Wednesday for the second day of the legal challenge. On Tuesday, the Red Rebels group of red-dressed women did their performance art, while Extinction Rebellion’s mock ‘Landing Crew’ also staged a stunt, and the protest was entertained by a mass choir of parents.
By lunchtime, numbers swelled on the forecourt in front of the Civil and Family Court in Redcliffe, and West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris gave a speech condemning the plan to expand Bristol Airport.
Chloe Naldrett, who was a key speaker at the event, said: “We’ve only got here because of a coalition of local residents who have said ‘we need to take this as far as we can’. If you don’t understand why people are doing this, then it’s pretty straightforward that you don’t understand the science of the climate emergency. And that’s partly a failure of our Government, for not communicating it properly, and it’s definitely a failure of our media for not communicating it properly, but the science of the climate emergency is real, it’s incontrovertible, and it’s happening now.
“In all honesty, we don’t need to look at charts and graphs - we can see it happening now. We had 40 degrees for the first time ever in this country this summer. We had record temperatures being shattered not by tiny margins, but by five degrees in places. We’ve got heatwaves - the Antarctic is 40 degrees above normal, Europe’s rivers dried up this summer.
“If you are questioning why climate activists are doing what they are doing, then you simply do not understand how clear and progressive the danger is to us all, to our children and certainly to future generations,” she added.
“What we saw this summer, and how uncomfortable it was for us this summer - it’s likely that that will be the coolest summer than any of us experience for the rest of our lives. That’s what’s coming. That’s already happening in other parts of the world,” she said.
Bristol Airport Action Network are challenging the Government’s planning inspector, who made the decision to allow the airport to expand, putting forward a case that he didn’t take into account enough the extra carbon emissions from increasing the capacity of the airport from ten million passengers a year to 12 million.
“It is extremely poignant that the court hearing occurs as climate negotiations at COP27 start in Egypt,” said BAAN’s Richard Baxter. “It is ironic that world leaders and their negotiating teams fly into the luxury holiday resort of Sharm El Sheikh to talk about future action on tackling climate change crisis. On the run up to the conference there have been key reports saying that the world is ‘approaching the point of irreversible climate breakdown’.
“The UN has stated that at present there is no credible pathway in place to limit global temperature rises to the internationally agreed target of 1.5C. According to the World Metrological Organisation Europe’s climate is warming twice the rate of the global average. Only four months ago the UK was sweltering in record breaking temperatures and there were some 2,800 excess deaths over this period,” he added.
“The clear warning signs cannot be ignored and a decision to expand Bristol Airport and lock in future increases in carbon emissions would be total madness. We have been told time and time again that we all need to make lifestyle changes to the way we travel, what we eat and how we heat and power our homes and workplaces in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This court case is highly significant in signalling the real and urgent need to halt expanding local airports in the UK,” he added.
Read next:
- Bristol Airport Flyer bus blockaded by teenage Extinction Rebellion activists
- Plans for Bristol Airport 3,000-car park and ride to go to inquiry
- Bristol Airport campaigners send video to Canadian teachers over expansion plans
- 'Just Stop Oil': Two Bristol women deliberately get jailed
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