Post by seniorpapermonitor on Oct 19, 2015 19:38:14 GMT
Stumbled across this one in the archives (February 1978) of Flight International ...........
SIR—This week's White Paper on the future of London's airports indicates that an awareness of general aviation may exist within the corridors of power. One hopes that the decision to develop Biggin Hill as the general aviation terminal for London was based on sound research and consumer demand.
But while accepting that Biggin Hill is a plausible site for business operations, is it the right one? A chain of GA airfields around London would be necessary to realise fully the potential of the company aeroplane.
Such a chain would clearly be out of the question, but putting all of London's GA eggs into one basket is equally impractical.
The BAA is planning a larger GA apron at Gatwick. Was it sound judgement to locate the new GA airfield so close to an existing facility? Moreover, the Biggin Hill site is not the most accessible by surface transport,
nor is it the best topographically, geographically or environmentally.
Why was Blackbushe not mentioned in the White Paper? Biggin Hill can certainly take care of GA needs (including club flying) south-east of London, but south-west London, north Hampshire, Berkshire and west Surrey
completely lack proper GA facilities. Blackbushe has close connections to the M4 and M3/M25 motorways, and is only two miles from a mainline rail connection. There are three superb runways with hard, all-weather
surfaces, and its plateau site blesses it with the best weather record of any airfield in southern England. Environmentally, Blackbushe wins again. Almost completely surrounded by open common ground and Forestry
Commission land, Blackbushe has long unobstructed approaches which cause virtually no noise nuisance.
Blackbushe is without doubt a premier site for a business airport: London is easily accessible, while the airport lies in the centre of the Beading, Basingstoke, Guildford, Staines and Slough circle, an area of tremendous
commercial activity and growth. The ever-increasing numberof business flights from Blackbushe demonstrates the need for a GA centre here.
At this moment, due to the deplorable way in which Hampshire County Council has treated Blackbushe and owner Doug Arnold, this airport is fighting a last desperate struggle for survival. On February 28 the Land
Tribunal will be attending to establish the price at which Blackbushe will be transferred to the Hampshire County Council. Former owner AVM Don Bennett served a purchase notice on Hampshire County Council when
it would not permit Blackbushe development. Now, despite Doug Arnold's efforts to get the purchase order lifted, the County Council is hell bent on rushing the transaction through.
The County Council expects to turn the site into a public open space, an open space within many thousands of acres of more open space! By the end of the month London's finest GA site could be lost for all time.
Everyone who has any belief in aviation and freedom from bureaucracy should write immediately to Keith Bobinson, the chief executive of Hampshire County Council, and to their MPs to demand that Blackbushe
be allowed to continue as an airport.
PETER BROWN
Blackbushe Airport Users' Association,
Blackbushe Airport,
Camberley,
Surrey
...... you are certainly a determined man Mr Brown - and I salute you for it !
