Rival plans show airport development not needed

“You are correct BLOGTODI.The last time I was in Paris it was full of foreigners. Brits, Irish, Belgians, Dutch, Germans, Americans and Japanese. They outnumbered the French. Its the same in every big European City. I certainly prefer it if there are fewer Brits in their football shirts complaining that it isn't like the UK.
Would be great if the infrastructure of Plymouth made it easier for foreigners to visit. They will boost the economy as their spending power is often higher than the natives.”

“Maybe the Herald can put this Question to Tudor Evans then

This proves that the Airport must remain designated Airport Land and be protected for the next 50yrs can he please tell us if he will remove this from the review next summer? After all it still has 9 years of protection left to run so there is no need now to have the Airport Site included in the Derriford Future Plan. Especially since there are already 2 huge developments earmarked. SHH must be made aware that this land is worthless now and will never be allowed to be Developed except as an Airport.

It seems now its high time Tudor Evans came off the Fence and sorted this Lease fiascao out once and for all, it was His last Administration who wrote the Lease so it is up to him to now get it back in the hands of the City. Designating this Land as Airport use only for the next 50 yrs makes the lease worthless, if Viable is sold the Airport land then covenants must be written into any such deal that this site can never ever be developed for houses and can only ever be used as an Airport. none of this is "Rocket Science" We also must in future insist our Elected Leaders and Councillors either prove before they stand they have a basic knowledge of Basic Economics and Business Sense, or must go on the relevant courses at their expense to learn these things before they are given any responsibility or Portfolio.”

“Been there, done that and ticked it off - but not from Plymouth airfield. Moscow is nice but very unfriendly. Paris is nicer but full of foreigners :-)”

“Blog said- 'do we need an airport? I haven't seen any incontrovertible evidence that we do'..

But think what great chat-up lines you'd have for your ladyfriend mate:-eg- "Fancy a weekend in Paris? we''ll be coming in to land over the Eiffel Tower 45 minutes after taking off from Plymouth"
or- "Let's hop on the 9:30am flight from Plymouth to Moscow and we'll be over the Kremlin by noon".
Modern mini-jet airliners can touch 500mph no problem..:)”

“hstmtu said- "the city centre is no longer the geographical centre for much of Plymouths growing population but finds itself on the southern extremity of the modern Plymouth"

Tourists flock to the Hoe, waterfront and city centre in their thousands because there's nowhere else in Plymouth they want to see..;)”

“The rival plan may show we don't need to develop the airport site but the real question is - do we need an airport? I haven't seen any incontrovertible evidence that we do or backers rushing in to capitalise on the airport business.”

“@hstmtu4000

Exactly my thoughts. I think the centre of Plymouth will move towards the Derriford area which - of course leaves the old centre available for a massive expansion of the Plymouth University Campus”

“Since the second world war Plymouths urban sprawl has by necessity spread Northwards far beyond its pre-war Henders corner limit at Mannamead.The result is that the city centre is no longer the geographical centre for much of Plymouths growing population but finds itself on the southern extremity of the modern Plymouth.Fast growing areas like the North of Plymouth are therefore developing their own micro economy particularly in the Derriford area.The rising cost of transport now also means that people want more of the services they need closer to where they live.That together with internet shopping and wider national economic problems and its no wonder the city centre economy is suffering as these "out of town" developments increasingly siphon off more and more business.Sadly thats just the way it is now and the challenge for Plymouth in the 21st century is to try to redress that growing economic imbalance between "out of town" and city centre development.”

“@pastyman

I agree. At last the Herald appears to have found a voice of its own.

SHH should be told in no uncertain terms that the airport land remains so.

I would have thought that both sites should have been linked in to the development and growth of the airport so as to attract inward investment”

“C'or blimey. After a year or so of sitting on the fence, the 'Voice of Plymouth' has finally started to voice an opinion that reflect a lot of Plymothians views.

Is another 'district shopping' area really needed? Let's be honest, none of the existing ones are very useful other than the odd bookies and a newsagent. They tend to be pretty dismal places to go, other than the Barbican or Hyde Park which have grown organically, not according to a developers 'master plan'

I do agree with the sentiment that even if Viable's plans do not come off, this land should be preserved for it's intended aviation use and not built on. Given the current '3rd Runway' debate, we could end up building another 'lovely' new shopping centre just as landing slots become available at Heathrow.”