AS I indeed live at Woolwell, I would like to reassure David Coles (February 11) I have never found the airport to be a nuisance at all.

In fact, a successful airport would probably be very beneficial to my house price. Unfortunately, I still feel there is no chance of it happening. Monday's letter from VIABLE chairman Raoul Witherall shows why.

If you look across from the airfield, you will see the George Park and Ride site. Take a look at the number of passengers on each bus between 8-9am and 4-5pm, and compare it to the much higher numbers of single-occupancy cars going by in either direction. You will probably guess that two-thirds of the latter were among those telling traffic surveys five to seven years ago they would be catching the Park and Ride every day without fail.

Even Brunel made roughly the same mistake as Raoul and co – "Put on the routes, the passengers will come." I suspect they won't, though, just as they did not in over 130 years of sometimes putting railway stations in inconvenient locations. So they will make other arrangements instead, especially if they have already got an alternative.

I would also like to know which market VIABLE believes it can capture? There is no chance of larger medium-haul planes at Plymouth, so holiday-makers will continue to use Exeter and Bristol, as per the last 40/50 years. Tourists, concerned with their carbon footprint or not, will continue to visit us by train, coach or car, because that way they do not need to check in or check out at an airport which is miles from the city centre and anything historical or cultural. That time is money ethos will also apply to most businesses, especially in an internet age.

Plymouth's North Road is just a third of a mile walk from the city centre. However good the buses and taxis are, the airport is around 20 times that distance from Plymouth, and traffic jams have to be taken into account as well. Equally, why should any business have to extend its carbon footprint in the day of video-conferencing?

I wonder if the best benefit for the people of Plymouth might actually be to provide a site for the most consistent spending power in the city?

Any chance of an expansion to the University, or even a separate University of North Plymouth and the South Hams, with some associated accommodation?

STEVE MARKETIS

Woolwell