TAG Aviation have made application to discharge conditions 16 and
17 of their outline planning consent for a business airport at
Farnborough - 1:10,000 and 1:100,000 risk contours.

The definition of the risk:

'A 1:100,000 per annum individual risk means that at the point of
exposure 24 hours a day, 365 days a year there would be for any
one individual a probability of 1:100,000 that they would be
killed in any one year.'

The contour is drawn by linking together these points. The risk
of death increases for individuals within the contour and
decreases for those outside the contour.

The risk contours only consider the death of any one individual.
They take no account of the population within the contours, or
the risk to any particular concentration of people. For example,
a house, a block of houses, a kindergarten, an office or the
college, all of which lie within the 1:100,000 risk contour. A
crash on the college would result in several hundred dead and
many more seriously injured.

At Farnborough a greater number of people will be bounded by the
risk contours than any other UK airport. The risk is therefore
unacceptable. Even more so when no benefits accrue to the local
community from the airport, whereas on the other hand the local
community suffers all the disbenefits, eg risk of a crash, noise,
deteriorating air quality, traffic congestion, degraded local
environment, flooding and contamination of Cove Brook, falling
house prices, etc.

In Parkins v Rushmoor, the council are under an obligation to
seek 'independent advice' before they can proceed with this
application.

 http://uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=21729

TAG have supported their application with two shoddy reports from
AEA Technology. Does anyone have any background on this company?

 http://www.rushmoor.gov.uk/information/living/planning/farn_aerodrome_rc.htm
 http://www.rushmoor.gov.uk/information/living/planning/farn_aerodrome_rc16.htm
 http://www.rushmoor.gov.uk/information/living/planning/farn_aerodrome_rc17.htm

Farnborough is a key component of globalisation. Farnborough is
the location of the Farnborough Airshow, the world's largest arms
fair.

 http://uk.indymedia.org/

This is the first time the council has had the opportunity to
consider the risk imposed by the TAG operation and the
implications it has for the safety of those on the ground.

This application must be stopped. Barring legal action, this is
for the foreseeable future the last opportunity we have for
stopping an expanding airport at Farnborough.

This application should be opposed by people affected by other
airports. If such an unacceptable risk is imposed on Farnborough
it bodes ill for all other airports.

Objections to Keith Holland, Rushmoor Head of Planning. Deadline
4 October 2002

Keith Holland
Head of Planning
Rushmoor Borough Council
Farnborough
Hants GU14 7JU

01252 398 790

 kholland@rushmoor.gov.uk
 http://www.rushmoor.gov.uk

more info

 http://www.heureka.clara.net/surrey-hants/tag1617.htm

background info

 http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk
 http://www.farnborough-airport.org.uk

BVEJ newsletter has a regular Farnborough Airport column

 http://bvej.freewebsites.com

useful reading

Keith Parkins, TAG Aviation outline planning conditions 16 and
17, September 2002

Keith Parkins, Air show, arms fair or corporate gateway to
Europe?, Corporate Watch newsletter, June-July 2002

Keith Parkins, Air show, arms fair or corporate gateway to
Europe?, Corporate Watch news, 9 July 2002

Keith Parkins, Farnborough Airfield Judicial Review, UK Indymedia,
4 February 2002

Keith Parkins, Farnborough International 2002 -- 22-28 July 2002,
UK Indymedia, 8 August 2002