Firstly, this is the piece we wrote back in October outlining our objections to the expansion of the airport: Why it has to be no go for Bristol Airport expansion 20.10.22. It’s getting close to crunch time…

Bristol Airport expansion decision in High Court this week – The Bristol Activist | 7.11.22

The long-awaited High Court challenge to Bristol Airport expansion will be heard in Bristol this week, with anti-expansion campaigners fighting for a future of planet, not planes.

In the hearing, taking place on November 8 and 9, local campaign group Bristol Airport Action Network (BAAN) will argue that the result of last year’s planning inquiry that granted permission to the airport to expand was wrong in law as it failed to properly account for the climate impact of the expansion.

Should BAAN be successful, the decision will return to planning inspectors who will then have to reevaluate the arguments from scratch, possibly resulting in a reversed outcome.

You can read the rest of this piece here

This is a longer piece we recently wrote, putting the situation with Bristol Airport into the context of planning and transport decisions which run counter to the drive to get us all to reduce the carbon emissions we’re being held responsible for: Set up to fail 24.10.22. Let’s just say that in the context of what we wrote about in this piece, being lectured about our carbon emissions by delegates jetting off to the COP27 conference being held in the Red Sea resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh sticks in the throat.

Staying with the issue of total hypocrisy, First Bus who run the Airport Flyer service out to Bristol Airport are increasing the frequency of the service from every 20 to every 12 minutes. This is the same First Bus who are cutting services on 18 routes in Bristol and surrounding counties. First Bus piling their resources into the lucrative airport route while slashing socially necessary routes elsewhere in the region. First Bus basically taking the p**s out of bus users across the region.

There’s only so far First Bus can go with taking liberties before people say enough, we’re going to take action to highlight how they’re screwing us over. This is what happened last weekend…

Activists block the bus from leaving Temple Meads on its return journey to Bristol bus station. Image: Silverbirch.

Youth activists block airport bus in protest for fairer public transport – The Bristol Activist | 6.11.22

Youth environmental activists blocked an Airport Flyer bus in protest against the proposed expansion of Bristol Airport and recent cuts of public transport in the city.

Eight activists from XR Youth Bristol blocked the bus outside Temple Meads station by surrounding it with banners, one of which read “Fair Travel not Air Travel”. Others hung banners out of the windows on the upper tier of the bus.

The Airport Flyer, operated by FirstBus, had arrived from the airport and was en route to the city centre, which the activists say avoided putting passengers at risk of missing flights. Activists remained for two hours before leaving voluntarily. Police were present at the scene.

You can read the rest of this piece here

We realise that XR aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. However, hats off to XR Youth Bristol for taking up the issue of p**s poor bus provision across Bristol and the surrounding counties, and highlighting the cynicism of First Bus in piling resources into buses serving the airport while slashing services elsewhere.

As this situation develops, we’ll provide further updates…