Sustainability and Airport Development

Sustainability and Airport Development
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Introduction
The term sustainable development has become quite common around the corporate and even social circle. This is a term that refers to the ability to implement development today to meet the needs of the current generation, without jeopardizing the ability to meet the needs of the coming generations in the future (Ec.europa.eu, (2015). Ideally this means that the current and future generations are all assured of quality.Sustainable development is not an aspect that is limited to implementing policies to cope with the rising environmental degradation, but it should also be guided by intrinsic principles in the society(Melcc.org.uk, 2015). This also means that there is need to change the societal thinking patterns with reference to the social-economic structures, production and consumption patterns.This is mainly due to the environmental awareness that has been emphasized by various protection agencies and the government, supported by numerous high ranking research reports on the need to practice sustainable development in light of the degrading environmental status(Ec.europa.eu, 2015). In the past, most of the firms in the corporate sector have taken little or no actions towards safe guarding the environment;however, policies developed towards ensuring strict guidance on development in reference to environmental protection have forced them to reconsider. Standards set out to measure the level of compliance to the environmental issues and sustainabledevelopments are made aware to the public and affect that rate of doing business in the UK(Eccles, Ioannou and Serafeim, 2012).
Various non-governmental initiatives have also been developed in an effort to force companies to comply with these conditions. One of the industries that have been ranked highest in reference to pollution is aviation(A New Approach Heathrow’s options for connecting the UK to growth, 2013). Airlines have some of the highest rates of greenhouse gasses emission, high energy consumption and construction material. At the same time there have been a number of concerns related to waste management and water usage, relative to the amount used by airlines. Heathrow airport has for some time had the proposal to construct a third runway and thus a sixth terminal. This will see the flow and frequency of flights at the airport increase(WHAT ARE AN AIRPORT’S IMPACTS?, 2015). The justification for the airport expansion plans are pegged on the reasons that, UK will increase connectivity to the global markets, jobs will be created, theeconomy will get a boost from growing flights and increasing the competitiveness of UK in the global markets. However there is more than meets the eye on this issue, with reference to sustainability of the same, as organization like HACAN and Friends of the Earth have indicated(Mediacentre.gatwickairport.com, 2015).
Key social and economic impacts
According to the department for transport, there are five aspects that must be established whenever there is a new policies and development related to transport. The aspects include that there is minimal environmental damage, high economic efficiency, high safety precautions, integration and high integration. Social costs benefit analysis of the construction indicates that the benefits are more to the airport than to the community which the airport will gain most.
With the expansion of the third runway the people leaving near the airport are going to be affected in terms of increased noise. This also means that the level of noise pollution is bound to extend in magnitude and extent compared to before(Butcher, 2014). Air pollution is also going to increase relative to the need to safeguard theair quality for the people living near the airport. As opposed to the benefits associated with the expansion, there is also going to be significant destruction of homes and lives of those living around the airport. Poorer living conditions associated with the quality of the air and noise pollution are going to affect the health status of the people to a very significant level(, 2014). The aspect of having the airport as the main aviation hubdoes not sound economically sound as Heathrow would want stakeholders to believe. Instead of having only one airport as the main hub, there should even distribution of aviation services to other regions such that the environmental degradation pressure of the area is lifted(Topham, 2014). By distributing the aviation services to other airports, this will greatly enhance the social economic benefits that Heathrow claims to bring to the table. There are going to be better chances of a wider scale magnitude, if the developments are distributed to other airports, given the potential for growth of a number of airports as compared to one centralized in a single area(BBC News, 2014).
Organizations in support of the expansion cite the fact that IK needs to be competitive in the global markets and expanding Heathrow is going to help to that effect. Other economic benefits include stimulating growth of the economy byincreasing trading links to the rest of the world markets. This also means that there will be a relative increase in the number of people employed by the airline increasing the economic benefits of the expansion(Eccles, Ioannou and Serafeim, 2012). However, there exists a very weak correlation between connectivity and economic growth as associated with increased links, especially whenconsidering developing economies(BBC News, 2014). As such most of the economic benefits indicated by airline are highly exaggerated in reference to weights of the costs and benefits as well as downplaying on the environmental impacts of the construction.
Environmental and community consequences
One of the environmental aspects that are going to be associated with the expansion of the Heathrow airport is noise pollution which falls under environmental consequences. Noise pollution and its impacts are likely to have significant impact on the people living in the area. Noise pollution tends to have varying impacts on the people that are affected, however, the impacts depend amount of noise, which relevant to the noise levels, the length of exposure, time of exposure and the frequency of the noise exposure(Boon et al., 2008). This increased level of noise pollution relative to the expansion of the third terminal is estimated to affect thousands of people in the area. This is an aspect that cannot be overlooked. Compared to other national and international airports, Heathrow has been found to have a higher impact especially with reference to noise pollution and there is a risk of the effects developing to severe levels(Boon et al., 2008).
The other aspects that is going to be affected relates to the quality of the air relative to the expansion of the runway. The airline is already related as one of the most pollutant with reference to CO2 emissions. Other elements such nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter are also going to increase in amount within the air surrounding the airport. These are emissions that significant potential to damage the health of the nearby residents over time(Butcher, 2014). While measures such as traded permits and carbon credits are suggested as mitigation mechanisms, they may not have the desired effect of reducing the health impacts in the future and therefore the burden on the economy. With an increase in health complications among the people living near Heathrow, the benefits accruing from the expansion are thrown of balance(Butcher, 2014).
The element of biodiversity is also crucial to the areas that are going to be stripped for the airport expansion. The biodiversity of the species in the area is going to be greatly affected relative to the change in the surroundings, air quality, water quality and the noise levels. Electing the structures along the runway will require that the land is stripped of its natural diversity in species some of which will have a risk of irreversibility such as migratory birds(Eccles, Ioannou and Serafeim, 2012). The ecological value of the land is going to be permanently affected and providing additional/extra land will not mitigate the impact in the affected area. Most of the lands to be stripped are not just agricultural but also attract quite a number of pigeons and Canada geese. Neighboring Queen Mother Reservoirsupport quite a number of waterfowls and gull roosts all of which are going to be put under pressure by the expansion.
The water quality and quantity in the area is also going to be affected. Currently the area is still under water stress and the expansion is likely to have immense water demands from construction to the operation phase. Diversion of the Colne River and the creation of the River Colne Spur are going to have significant impact on the water levels and siltation processes due to the reduced channel level. This will have significant impacts on the ability to meet the water quality standards according to the Water Framework Directives(Pettinger, 2012).
Other than the environment, the community is also going to be affected in a number of ways. Relative to the expansion of the terminal, a total of four villages are going to be affected in the course of development and operations of the runway.Poyle ward of Slough and the Colnbrook, which are situated in the west areas are going to be affected by the expansion.More than 700 residential properties will also face permanent effects in areas such as Longford, Sipson and Harmondsworth.Some of the people will have to be compensated for their property while other are relocated. Noise insulation mechanisms will also have to be put up for the remaining residents living near the new runway. Facilities such as Harmondsworth primary school and community hall will have to be moved and this means that the residents that depend on these facilitieswould have to be moved as well. There would also have to be some mitigation mechanisms that ensure the relocations areas have enough resources and community social services, such that there is no strain. People living in Stanwell could be affected as the southern access railway services become congested. Traffic flow in places such Stanwell moor, PoyleandStanwell are likely become congested too, as the M 25 is moved to a tunnel.
Academic, Aviation Industry, NGO, Government and Airport Users Publications on Sustainable Development
Different sector of the economy will have different ways of referring to sustainable development depending on the elements that they use to measure and therefore define. In the aviation industry, sustainable development refers to quite a number of elements, which affect its operations. One of the elements that the industry uses to establish the premise of sust...