by Denis Walker
It’s obviously sad news that ATC Lasham employees have lost their jobs (reported in the Echo on Tue 15th June), and I’m sure all SAEN members offer their sympathy.
However, the Echo’s claim that any suggestion that the expansion of the airport is in question is “probably unfounded” should not go unchallenged. Firstly for the sloppy journalism it demonstrates: we are working entirely with hypotheticals here and the Echo has not bothered to find out what impact the expansion of the airport would have on the local economy. They are in the position to ask the airport to give specific examples of how the airport expansion would benefit us locally and have failed to do so.
In fact, the whole case for the expansion of the airport is based on unfounded aspirations. Given the huge costs an expansion would bring – the loss of Eastwoodbury Lane, more congestion on the A127 and the inevitable disruption caused by frequent low-flying aircraft – the public has a right to rather more justification than a flimsy promise of unspecified benefits to the local economy and a nebulous promise of jobs.
Blaming the Icelandic volcano for the loss of jobs at ATC Lasham is simply nonsensical – if anything it should have led to an increase in jobs as jet engines which have ingested ash will need to be overhauled.
It is time that we realised that relying on an unsustainable industry that causes disproportionate environmental pollution to rejuvenate our economy is unwise in the extreme. ATC Lasham staff could be retrained to manufacture renewable energy technologies, such as wind turbine blades and be guaranteed a far more stable job.
Asking us to hope that the “aviation industry bounces back” when oil production is expected to peak this decade is frankly irresponsible. We need to save the remaining oil for the most important uses, such as food production instead of extravagantly burning it in aircraft engines to send people on weekend breaks in European cities they could reach by train.
Tags: Denis Walker