Plane Talking in the City
Day of Action on the Expansion of the Aviation Industry
| When? | Saturday 3rd May 2003, 11-2 |
| Where? | St. Ann's Square, Manchester City Centre |
| Why? | To raise awareness about the damaging effects of the proposed expansion of the UK aviation industry, get postcards signed, and talk to people about their experiences of the airport. |
| How? | Posing as flight attendants at our mock check-in desk, adorned in the colours of, ahem, a well known budget airline |
On Saturday 3rd May, Manchester FoE campaigners took to the City Centre dressed as flight attendants and equipped with leaflets (see righthand box), 'brace yourselves' postcards and heads full of facts and figures. There were moments of apathy, but many shoppers seemed interested in our leaflets (see righthand box). Many took away postcards and some signed them on the spot.
One of the most rewarding aspects of the day was speaking to people about their views on airport expansion. We expected protests about how much they liked cheap flights, but many people were genuinely concerned about the likely impacts of expansion.
A woman who has lived in Flixton, near Urmston for 15 years, and has noticed noise pollution get much worse over the last 6 years:
"It's not handy when I'm trying to put my baby to sleep."
 |
Michael Gibson, a local market gardener from Knutsford said: "Huge, low-flying aircraft, often directly overhead for days at a time, seem to be attacking us, on some days one a minute from 6am to 11pm. And there is a large quota of night flights. The noise and other pollution is awful". |
A male resident of Monton, Eccles:
"Just because you don't live near the airport doesn't mean you can't feel empathy for the people who do."
A woman from Ashton-under-Lyne:
"We fly too much - this is an issue for clean air and child health."
Shoppers
signed our postcards, part of a national lobby of MPs to demonstrate
public concern about the impacts of the aviation industry. Our leaflets
directed them to a part of this website where
they could also take part in the lobby.
More information
Promotional
leaflet (148k pdf)
The
Plane Truth - what's wrong with aviation?
Government consultation
information: www.airconsult.gov.uk
Airport Watch
campaign against airport expansion: www.airportwatch.org.uk
HACAN Clear
Skies: www.hacan.org.uk
The full
response (PDF) written by Manchester FoE is now online.
Quotes
given to Manchester FoE from politicians, experts and the public.
Press information
Manchester Evening
News: Green
Fury Over Airport Plans
For relevant
press releases please refer to our News
Desk