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Ordered,
That the Occupational Pensions Schemes (Winding Up and Deficiency on Winding Up etc.) (Amendments) Regulations 2004 (S.I.,2004,No.403), dated 23rd February 2004, and the Occupational Pensions Schemes (Winding Up) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 (S.I.,2004,No.1140), dated 19th April 2004, be referred to a Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation.—[Jim Fitzpatrick.]
24 May 2004 : Column 1412
Bristol International Airport
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Heppell.]
10.12 pm
Dr. Liam Fox (Woodspring): I am extremely grateful to have the chance to raise the important issue of the transport infrastructure surrounding the proposed expansion of Bristol International airport. I should like at the outset to express my thanks to the Parish Councils Airport Association, which represents 23 of the local parish councils and which has been extraordinarily helpful to me in my preparation for this debate.
It would be quite improper to go too much into the history of the development at Lulsgate. Suffice it to say that a very large body of opinion in my constituency has always felt that Filton is a more logical place for development, as it is situated between two motorways and has railway access to hand. That said, we are where we are. The development at Bristol has been successful from the airport's point of view; it has good facilities in the new terminal, a skilled and committed work force and ambitious management. Notwithstanding the problems that I shall refer to, those of us who have used the airport would be hypocritical if we did not welcome the increased access that it gives us to business destinations in particular.
Since the new terminal was developed at Bristol, there has been a massive expansion in low-cost airlines, an increase in demand and an increase in passenger numbers, and we now see the Government's proposed expansion of the regional airports. There is a major problem with the expansion of Bristol airport: the local road infrastructure is barely able to cope with current passenger numbers, never mind the large predicted number of passengers who would come with further expansion.
At the risk of boring the vast attendance in the House, I wish to point out one or two of the specific road details that are important.
There are no quick and easy routes to Bristol airport from the motorway network. Times vary from 20 minutes at best—it would be a very good best, I have to say—to at least an hour or two. The shortest and most direct route from the motorway network would be via a road link from the M5 at junction 20 at Clevedon, but it would be 8 miles long and have to cross open low country of high ecological landscape value. The vast majority of my constituents would be utterly opposed to that.
More reliable access is available from the M5 south from junction 22 at Burnham, which is a 15 mile journey to the airport, or from junction 21 at Weston, which is a 9 mile journey. Both pass through areas with roadside communities and small villages with speed restrictions. From the M4 north near the M32, the distance is 14 miles. That route crosses the centre of the city of Bristol, and times vary from at best half an hour to up to two hours depending on traffic. Hence traffic is signed to the airport via the M4-M5 box, which is itself very busy and congested, particularly at Almondsbury and Cribb's Causeway. Anyone who has attempted to go down the M5 on a bank holiday weekend will realise what a nightmare that stretch of the motorway can be.
24 May 2004 : Column 1413
The M5 north and the M4 west traffic is signed via junction 18—Avonmouth and Portway—or people can use junction 19 at Gordano. Either route is very busy and congested at peak hours. There is also congestion when passing through the A38 Winterstoke road or the A38-A370 link at Barrow Gurney, which, although a small village with a single-lane road through the middle, is one of the main thoroughfares for those seeking access to the A38 on the airport approach.
If those roads are very difficult, there are other potential access routes from the A37 via Chew Magna, Winford and Felton, again through a single-lane road in the middle of a rural village. On the other side, the increased traffic from the A370 via Brockley Coombe is resulting in increased road damage. That is an area where, as several of my constituents have pointed out, accidents are waiting to happen. Mr. Geoff Smith wrote to me to say that
"the levels of traffic are continually increasing along roads that are inadequate for the size of the vehicles and poorly maintained, all adding to the noise. The local lanes are being used as 'rat runs' to avoid the congestion on the main roads . . . Fuel tankers to the airport now use Downside Road/Brockley Coombe, this road was never built for this type of traffic. It is a miracle that there has been no serious accident."
"The road surface . . . is breaking up, there are no pavements and no lighting. The banks have been eroded away with the traffic and there are ditches along the side of the road. In my opinion an accident waiting to happen."
That is a commonly held view in the area.
The only other access is from Bath near the A366 through the village of Bishop Sutton, where I live, and through the villages of Blagdon and Harptree. That is utterly unsuitable given the traffic that we already have.
Bristol airport estimates that passenger growth will rise from 4 million at present to between 7 million and 9 million by 2015. Assessing vehicle traffic growth for each increase of 500,000 passengers, and assuming that 20 per cent. travel by coach and 80 per cent. by car, it is estimated that that will lead to an extra 25 coaches and 1,000 other vehicles per day. That is equivalent to an extra 200 coaches and 8,000 cars per day on the basis of an increase from 4 million to 8 million passengers per year at the airport. I understand that the current indications—no doubt the Minister has better data than I do—are that two thirds of the airport traffic approaches from the north and one third from the south, although that may change with time.
An increase of that order could possibly just be accommodated on the A38 south—it would mean an extra 18,000 vehicles a day. However, it would be utterly impossible on the A38 north, because it would overload it with an extra 26,000 vehicles per day. That would be extremely distressing for the village of Barrow Gurney, which would completely seize up unless traffic were diverted elsewhere, because it could not accommodate an extra 15,000 or 17,000 vehicles per day.
What can be done? The M4 and the M5 around Bristol are already heavily congested at peak times and holiday periods. The A38 and the A370 are becoming increasingly busy and congested at peak times. Barrow Gurney village already suffers heavily from airport-related traffic and could not accommodate the predicted growth effectively. We await the result of the Greater Bristol strategic transport study, but access to Bristol
24 May 2004 : Column 1414
airport is not good. A local village bypass of Barrow Gurney, possibly through the A38-A370 link road, is especially needed and every effort should be made to reduce pressure on access from the north.
Other villages that suffer access pressures, such as Banwell, should also be relieved. The problems of access through the Chew valley should be recognised. It would be a tragedy if a spot of outstanding natural beauty and tourist importance was utterly destroyed because of the attempts of traffic to get through an inadequate network to Bristol airport.
A short Adjournment debate is not the place to deal with the other issues that relate to the expansion of the airport. I shall simply say that the potential expansion of the runway—an extension that would diminish the size of Felton common—is unacceptable. When the new terminal was created, we were led to believe that the system would provide for greater business traffic and reduce dependency on overnight and cheap holiday charter traffic. If the promise were broken and the runway extended, it would be a betrayal of the good will that many people in the area showed when the new terminal was being created.
I can best summarise the position through the comments of Mr. Bob Hatherly, a constituent who lives in the village of Yatton. He wrote:
"Access to the area—I could write you a book on the problems but nothing is being done to improve the situation and because of the airport's location very little can or will be done, and at what cost, and who will pay? Not the airport I guess, Council Tax payers. Well there's a surprise!!"
We look to the Government to provide some solutions to a complex problem. They have clear policy objectives on regional airport expansion, but Bristol airport cannot expand, because of the limitations of its infrastructure, without severely reducing the quality of life of those who live in the surrounding towns and villages.
I look forward to the Under-Secretary's comments because the matter is important and causes increasing anxiety to many of my constituents.
10.27 pm
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