As campaigners continue to oppose the planned expansion of Luton Airport, the local man who hopes to be the new MP here has written to the Minister of Aviation calling on the Government to halt plans to almost double the size of Luton airport.
The plans would see Luton Airport almost double in size from 18 million passengers a year to a whopping 32 million – the same size as Gatwick.
‘The people of Harpenden and our beautiful villages don’t want the equivalent of Gatwick Airport on their door-steps. We have to come together as a community and stop this,’ Nigel Gardner told local residents.
Aviation will be the single largest producer of carbon emissions by 2050, forecasts show. ‘How can we be serious about net zero if we double the size of Luton airport’ added Gardner, who grew up locally.
‘Luton is simply the wrong location for another giant airport.’
‘This expansion needs to be put on ice until we have a proper strategy for the reduction of aviation emissions’, Mr Gardner wrote.
‘I remember growing up in Flamstead and my parents complaining about the noise from the planes. That was long before Ryanair, Easyjet, TUI and Wizz Air. Now it’s far, far, worse.’
Harpenden Councillor Teresa Heritage said, ‘Luton airport already has a bad record enforcing planning conditions, with cargo flights and private jets taking off at all hours. The growth plans will make this so much worse for local residents.’
Campaigners are also worried by the increase in road traffic congestion. ‘Be it the M1 or the Lower Luton Road we just don’t have the capacity for more traffic’ added Gardner.