City's runway extension 'to be approved'
07.12.09
Controversial plans to extend the runway at Belfast City Airport are to be approved, the Belfast Telegraph reports that an SDLP MP has said. South Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell told the newspaper that the airport's planning application is to be passed with the support of Environment Minister Edwin Poots and without a public inquiry.
The owners of the Belfast City Airport want to extend the runway by 590 metres to allow planes to fly further and fuller, opening-up new destinations in Europe and the Mediterranean. Dr McDonnell said: ‘My information is that the minister will make a public announcement by the end of the month in relation to the runway. His decision will fly directly in the face of all logical arguments against such a move by a wide cross-section of the general public and by politicians from all sides of the community. The minister and his department will try and sell this by stressing that it will 'only be an additional 500 metres of tarmac'.’
The SDLP Economic Affairs spokesman said that if the plans were implemented they would present ‘intolerable pressures in terms of pollution and noise nuisance’. He added: ‘There are also fears among the public that the additional flights will increase the potential for structural damage to homes and buildings across a wide area of Belfast.'
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