Representation by Richard Holmes
- Date submitted
- 30 May 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The projections for the growth in the demand for air travel are highly contentious, and many factors may cause this demand to be substantially lower. For example : I believe governments will act unilaterally and also in a co-ordinated fashion to control/limit air travel - see recent developments by the French to encourage rail. Luton airport has evolved and grown substantially from what was originally envisaged - fundamentally it is a poor location, but its growth has been driven by Luton Town Council with almost complete disregard for the neighbouring residents in adjoining counties. Along the process of growth, the airport operator to whom control of the airport is outsourced, has shown a disregard of the limits and noise controls placed on them. Luton Town Council state that they are the beneficiary of the airport, but in reality the airport is commercially run for the benefit of the shareholders of the airport operator - currently the Spanish government. The proposal is dependent on the tendering process and re-negotiation of the contract to operate the airport. There are no financial projections being made available to the public on the amount of investment/debt that a third party will have to commit to complete the expansion nor the terms on which this commitment will be repaid over the remaining term of the contract. Luton Town Council are attempting to "sell" the proposal by stating that the expansion will create c11,000 new jobs. These estimates need to be challenged to ascertain the "value" of these jobs since most are in the airport operator and in the supply chain and are not well paid roles. If the growth in jobs and the general economic impacts are to be believed, Luton Town Council need to demonstrate that they have a plan to build the necessary houses and schools within Luton, and not assume that surrounding counties will provide these, further driving up pressure on house prices, schools and roads.