Firstly, on Monday 8 December, Manchester Airport held a celebration of 100 years of flight at Manchester Cathedral. Manchester Friends of the Earth (MFoE) and local poet Michael Gibson turned up outside to stage a funeral for the victims of flight. Inside, airport and council reps heard speeches praising aviation and its contribution to humankind's achievements. Upon leaving they were confronted by Manchester FoE with reminders of the effects of aviation which include noise, climate change emissions and loss of biodiversity. Michael recited his work, "Silver Planes in Bluest Skies", written in response to the plans for Manchester Airport's second runway. Manchester FoE gave out an "alternative history of flight" stressing the environmental and social impacts of the industry.
The following week was a jumbo period for aviation news: on Tuesday the Government's white paper on the aviation industry was published and GMR were at Michael Gibson's house at 7am talking to him about his experiences living under the flight path. At 5pm, Graeme Sherriff, Manchester FoE, was on GMR Drive Time giving his response to the White Paper. Not surprisingly, he was unimpressed that it cleared the way for Manchester Airport to have, within 30 years, roughly the same number of flights as Heathrow has now, and the fact that the Government had ignored the arguments of environmentalists and its own advisors and had done nothing to confront the inappropriate subsidy of the aviation industry (eg no taxes on aviation fuels). Finally on Wednesday, the 100th anniversary itself, MFoE gave out their "alternative history of flight" all over the city.
The White Paper is just the start: a broad statement of policy. FoE will continue to press for demand management so that this crazy expansion does not go ahead.
Kerstin Moritz, Manchester Friends of the Earth (0161 834 8221, [email protected])
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