OPINION: This is the world we live in now, we can’t turn back time

IREMEMBER going to Bristol Airport as a kid and waving off planes from the balcony. What was its entire terminal back then is now a building purely for its staff.

Bristol Airport is already much bigger than it was in the 1990s, with 10 million passengers flying through it every year – and it wants to expand to allow for 12 million.

But last night, after much debate, North Somerset councillors threw out Bristol Airport’s expansion plans.

They said the environmental and societal impacts outweighed the economic benefits.

In rejecting the application, councillors pleased many anti-airport expansion campaigners.

There have been protests from the minute the airport revealed its proposals. We’ve seen people burying their head in the sand on Weston-super-Mare beach, marches through Bristol city centre and ‘go-slow’ cycle protests at the airport itself.

There are many people who categorically do not want the airport to expand – and for many of them, the reason is climate change.

I consider myself someone who cares about the planet. I worry about its future and recognise things need to change.

I don’t drive any more and I’ve stopped eating meat. I recycle, I get milk delivered in glass bottles, I’ve stopped buying so many new clothes from ‘fast fashion’ brands and I use a zero waste store to stock my cupboards.

But I fly. And I know I won’t stop flying if Bristol Airport doesn’t expand.

I know this isn’t a very ‘eco-friendly’ stance and I have no doubt I’ll be called a hypocrite, but Bristol Airport’s expansion, or lack thereof, will have no impact on how much I will fly in the future.

I love seeing the world. Some of my most treasured memories are travel-based and I’ve learned immeasurable amounts about culture, history and people from time spent around the world.

I feel incredibly privileged to be able to travel and I am not alone – it is a multi-billion-pound-a-year industry.

People fly away to take a break from the grey British weather, to enjoy quality time with their family, or to visit loved-ones abroad. People want to teach their kids to swim in an outdoor pool, or go snorkeling with them in a warm ocean.

I’m sure many will say these are silly, trivial things compared to the health of our planet. Of course, they are. But it’s unrealistic to expect people to give up something which can bring so much joy.

Bristol Airport failing to offer flights to the US or the middle east won’t stop people from going there. It just means they’ll fly from London instead.

If I could fly from Bristol to Thailand to see my step brother and his children, I would. Instead I make the journey from Somerset to London each time I visit. My dad makes that same trip four times

when they visit to meet them at the airport.

Preventing Bristol Airport’s expansion because you think it will stop people flying is nothing more than a fantasy.

The emissions caused by those flights will still exist, alongside extra CO2 from people’s journeys to furtherafield airports.

The expansion – which was recommended for approval by the council’s officers – would bring other benefits, too.

It could bring jobs, which could see people commute shorter distances to work. It could bring better public transport, reducing the time people spend in cars. It could also pump millions of pounds into the region’s economy. And it now faces a likely expensive journey as a result.

If I was still a North Somerset resident, I’d be furious thousands of pounds are likely going to be spent on expensive legal advice for a planning appeal which will be fighting a decision the authority’s own officers believed should be approved.

Bristol Airport has already pledged to become carbon neutral, offsetting all passenger journeys to and from it.

More and more airlines are working to reduce their emissions and there is research into more sustainable planes underway. We live in a world where air travel is no longer for the rich few, but is accessible for the masses. This is the world we live in now, we can’t turn back time.

Instead of working with the airport to make its expansion sustainable, the council has slammed the door shut on its progress and put the onus on the public not to fly. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t fly with me.