birdman
Орнитол&
Well, hi all...
I start this morning at work knowing I have to dovetail a few letters of protest between my contractual duties.
I'm about to write to my MP, Mayor, local councillors and local newspaper with regard to build an Aiport Link Road right through the middle of my Local Patch.
Development of the new Doncaster Airport, by whatever name, is well under way, and I want to make it clear from the start that I supported (and still do) the project.
For those who are not local, the site is the former RAF Finningley Airbase, which has been left, potentially to go to ruin, for the last 7 years since the closure of the base.
With a 4 and a half mile runway, which I believe is the second longest runway in Europe, it is a resource that was criminal to let go to waste, especially with the the furore over other proposed airports, and the overwhelming local support for this project.
Doncaster (in fact South Yorshire as a whole) has suffered devastating job losses due to the closure of most of the local coal mines, as well as the loss of other manufacturing industries, and whilst we seem to be one of the call-centre hot-spots, this has made only small inroads into a desparate social situation that has been ongoing for more than 20 years.
Doncaster itself, at the instigation of the Council, is a couple of years into a 25 year regeneration plan to make the place prosperous and successful, and somewhere where families can once again live with a degree of financial security. The Airport development, when finally approved, became an integral part of this plan.
These are all Good Things, and have my wholehearted support.
Now, it is certainly true that the communications infrastructure needs to be improved to link the Airport to the local motorway system, and three (out of an original 6 or more) proposals were put forward for public approval.
The final chosen proposal was to extend a link road from an already existing Motorway junction, past the north of the satellite mining village of Doncaster where I live.
All proposals resulted in a degree of environmental and historical impact (Doncaster is a former Roman Town, and Roman sites are ten a penny round here) but the chosen option, seemed to be the best balance between environmental impact, financial cost and regional development.
Yesterday the local free paper, which contains a Community section, gave details of a possible alternative apparently with a deal of local support - one of the original options which never went to public vote.
This makes use of the same junction, but sweeps the link road south of the village, and back up straight up the middle of my local patch.
Of course I am opposed because the areas means something to me on a personal level, but I have further objections.
In no particular order, there is of course the birdlife of the area, including Skylarks and partridges, which I believe are under a certain amount of threat nationwide, as well as owls and woodpeckers, which I think are the "stars" of the show.
Also, as you might have guessed from this diatribe, South Yorkshire is a very industrial county, and whilst it is hardly the Lake District, this small area is a very pleasant area, of more than a square mile without roads or other development, and a place that many locals use for dog-walking and cycling and taking the kids out.
In addition, some of the objections to the originally chosen option are that it is a "bypass" of the village. Well I do not understand how this is anything other than a bypass in the same way.
The originally chosen option does not encourage airport users into the village. Well in my experience, travellers do not tend to call in at the local town when going to an airport, so the actual route this road takes makes no difference.
In my opinion, my village, like the rest of the immediate area, will benefit more from the introduction of new business (perhaps a business development park close to the link road) and therefore new jobs, than from any, frankly, minimal increase in "visitors" to the local shops.
There is some objection to the fact that the originally chosen option bisects a Roman fort. Well, first of all, a local road already bisects the fort, there is no obvious evidence (to the layman) of the fort, I never knew it existed - and I'm Doncaster born and bred and have lived in the town for 36 of my 40 years - and as I said before, we live in a Roman town. The public plans for the option showed that these sites are all over the place, and it is very difficult to avoid them. The southern route does avoid them, but in my opinion the welfare of today's flora and fauna, and the lifestyle of the villagers, means more to me than some anonymous antiquity.
Finally - for this rant! - there is the objection to the potential of extra traffic weaving through the village. Well, you need some local knowledge, but it would benefit very few people to join the motorway network through my village, and even those that did could readily be discouraged from weaving thorugh the housing estates by the judicious placing of some bollards - plus it seems odd to me that extra business is wanted from extra visitors, but without extra traffic. Doesn't seem to work to me.
Anyway, I now have to try and put these, and other points across to the appropriate authorities, in a manner appropriate to the task in hand. It isn't a foregone conclusion - plans have been suspended until this new option has been reconsidered - but I'm not sure what my chances are.
And of course, being British, I don't like to complain!
I'll look back here from time to time, so if you have any bright ideas that might help my cause, please feel free to post.
I start this morning at work knowing I have to dovetail a few letters of protest between my contractual duties.
I'm about to write to my MP, Mayor, local councillors and local newspaper with regard to build an Aiport Link Road right through the middle of my Local Patch.
Development of the new Doncaster Airport, by whatever name, is well under way, and I want to make it clear from the start that I supported (and still do) the project.
For those who are not local, the site is the former RAF Finningley Airbase, which has been left, potentially to go to ruin, for the last 7 years since the closure of the base.
With a 4 and a half mile runway, which I believe is the second longest runway in Europe, it is a resource that was criminal to let go to waste, especially with the the furore over other proposed airports, and the overwhelming local support for this project.
Doncaster (in fact South Yorshire as a whole) has suffered devastating job losses due to the closure of most of the local coal mines, as well as the loss of other manufacturing industries, and whilst we seem to be one of the call-centre hot-spots, this has made only small inroads into a desparate social situation that has been ongoing for more than 20 years.
Doncaster itself, at the instigation of the Council, is a couple of years into a 25 year regeneration plan to make the place prosperous and successful, and somewhere where families can once again live with a degree of financial security. The Airport development, when finally approved, became an integral part of this plan.
These are all Good Things, and have my wholehearted support.
Now, it is certainly true that the communications infrastructure needs to be improved to link the Airport to the local motorway system, and three (out of an original 6 or more) proposals were put forward for public approval.
The final chosen proposal was to extend a link road from an already existing Motorway junction, past the north of the satellite mining village of Doncaster where I live.
All proposals resulted in a degree of environmental and historical impact (Doncaster is a former Roman Town, and Roman sites are ten a penny round here) but the chosen option, seemed to be the best balance between environmental impact, financial cost and regional development.
Yesterday the local free paper, which contains a Community section, gave details of a possible alternative apparently with a deal of local support - one of the original options which never went to public vote.
This makes use of the same junction, but sweeps the link road south of the village, and back up straight up the middle of my local patch.
Of course I am opposed because the areas means something to me on a personal level, but I have further objections.
In no particular order, there is of course the birdlife of the area, including Skylarks and partridges, which I believe are under a certain amount of threat nationwide, as well as owls and woodpeckers, which I think are the "stars" of the show.
Also, as you might have guessed from this diatribe, South Yorkshire is a very industrial county, and whilst it is hardly the Lake District, this small area is a very pleasant area, of more than a square mile without roads or other development, and a place that many locals use for dog-walking and cycling and taking the kids out.
In addition, some of the objections to the originally chosen option are that it is a "bypass" of the village. Well I do not understand how this is anything other than a bypass in the same way.
The originally chosen option does not encourage airport users into the village. Well in my experience, travellers do not tend to call in at the local town when going to an airport, so the actual route this road takes makes no difference.
In my opinion, my village, like the rest of the immediate area, will benefit more from the introduction of new business (perhaps a business development park close to the link road) and therefore new jobs, than from any, frankly, minimal increase in "visitors" to the local shops.
There is some objection to the fact that the originally chosen option bisects a Roman fort. Well, first of all, a local road already bisects the fort, there is no obvious evidence (to the layman) of the fort, I never knew it existed - and I'm Doncaster born and bred and have lived in the town for 36 of my 40 years - and as I said before, we live in a Roman town. The public plans for the option showed that these sites are all over the place, and it is very difficult to avoid them. The southern route does avoid them, but in my opinion the welfare of today's flora and fauna, and the lifestyle of the villagers, means more to me than some anonymous antiquity.
Finally - for this rant! - there is the objection to the potential of extra traffic weaving through the village. Well, you need some local knowledge, but it would benefit very few people to join the motorway network through my village, and even those that did could readily be discouraged from weaving thorugh the housing estates by the judicious placing of some bollards - plus it seems odd to me that extra business is wanted from extra visitors, but without extra traffic. Doesn't seem to work to me.
Anyway, I now have to try and put these, and other points across to the appropriate authorities, in a manner appropriate to the task in hand. It isn't a foregone conclusion - plans have been suspended until this new option has been reconsidered - but I'm not sure what my chances are.
And of course, being British, I don't like to complain!
I'll look back here from time to time, so if you have any bright ideas that might help my cause, please feel free to post.
Of course, Stansted is still developing as an airport independently of the entire airport expansion business. The same applies at Doncaster (best of luck Dave and if there is any advice then I will do my best to help), Lydd and East Midlands to name but three. Alconbury is also proposed for some kind of development now that the USAF are no longer present.
