MR Fry should stop comparing apples to oranges if he wants to make any sense. Surely flying freight and passengers in and out of Southend airport to make profit pales into insignificance against flying fighter aircraft to defend the country’s freedom in World War Two.
And yes, traffic fumes are bad in Leigh and Southend due to the already congested roads, but increasing that traffic and adding more aircraft can only make the pollution worse, so what exactly is his point?
Comparing the number of fatalities on the road to those linked to the airport is ridiculous. The number of people involved in road journeys versus those made in aircraft is millions of times greater, making the comparison meaningless. Statistically, air travel is safer than road travel, but aircraft crashes do happen and this is a densely populated area. Mr Fry also seems to have forgotten that a light aircraft crashed into Eastwood Park, killing the pilot in 2006. The crash happened in the afternoon in an area close to housing, schools and busy traffic on the A127. Imagine the fuel laden jet coming down in those circumstances.
Finally Mr Fry, people moved to Leigh because it has actually retained some of its original charm and characer, unlike the surrounding area which has been modernised to oblivion. No one reasonably would have expected a plan to vastly increase the amount of traffic flying out of the airport in an area with infrastructure so poorly suited to supporting it, frankly the idea makes about as much sense as his letter.
Mr K Cutts, Manchester
Drive, Leigh.