Hampshire's airport expansion

Above: Aeroplane trails over Crockford Clump

Living in the New Forest, as I do, you wonder sometimes how this special place will ever survive the onslaught of the relentless pressures of economic development. The latest threat comes from the opening up of a new airspace corridor stretching from Newbury down to the Forest, together with plans to expand two local airports: Bournemouth, which is on its south-western flank and Southampton on the north-eastern side.   

Each airport has drawn up a master plan in response to the Government’s 2003 Future of Air Transport White Paper. Southampton expects to double passenger numbers to three million by 2015, and then again to six million by 2030; at which point almost 100,000 aircraft are predicted to be flying in and out of the airport.
With the launch of new routes last year, Bournemouth increased to one million passengers and a proposed £32 million investment will allow for up to three million passengers. With further projections of up to four-and-a-half million passengers and 39,000 aircraft movements, it is one of the fastest growing airports in the UK.
The creation of the National Park two years ago introduced an official public sector body with teeth, which could counterbalance the impact of the Government’s development plans. These inevitably involve encouraging businesses to grow, building more houses and improving the infrastructure such as airport and transport links.

I went to talk to Clive Chatters who is the Chairman of the National Park Authority (NPA), to discover more about his views on the challenges facing this area.
“I’m concerned that the greatest threats to the Forest come from development activity outside of its boundaries....

For the full story, buy your copy of May's Hampshire Life