London Luton Airport Ltd is consulting on plans to expand Luton Airport. At the moment, its permitted capacity is 18 million passengers per year. It seeks to expand this to 32 million passengers per year.

Local pressure group Ladacan www.ladacan.org reckons this equates to 80,000 more flights per year. That means more carbon emissions, noise and congestion.

Demand for air transport has grown rapidly in the UK, more than doubling since 1997. If we accept the urgency of the climate change challenge, it is clear we need to change our thinking and our behaviour, and air travel has to be part of this change.

Expansion would of course lead to job creation, and that’s vital too. But we need jobs that protect the planet rather than contributing to its destruction. Hence the need for Labour’s Green New Deal which vows to create tens of thousands of jobs across the country in support a new and sustainable green economy.

Hitchin and Harpenden Labour candidate Kay Tart said:

“It’s obvious we need to oppose the expansion of Luton Airport, and indeed other airports across the country. We have to change our behaviours if we are serious about combatting climate change. Jobs are important too, we recognise that, but we need to fundamentally restructure our economic base so it protects our environment rather than destroying it.”

The Luton Airport consultation runs until Monday 16 December 2019. You can respond by attending a consultation event, visiting the project website futureluton.llal.org.uk or by emailing futureluton@llal.org.uk