The South Glos Post

Rail campaigners have welcomed new figures showing dramatic increases in the use of local train services, particularly from Severn Beach station

Figures published as part of the Severnside Community Rail Partnership’s (SCRP’s) 2011 Annual Report from the weekday passenger count carried out in November show that passenger numbers have increased from 135 to 201 – or by 49 per cent – at Severn Beach station between 2009 and 2011.

The same count found increases at other South Gloucestershire stations over the same 2 year period:

• Filton Abbey Wood has seen a 12 per cent increase – from 3,102 to 3,461
• Patchway has seen a 26 per cent increase – from 234 up to 295
• Yate has seen a 5 per cent increase – from 931 up to 974

Cllr Robert Griffin (Con, Pilning & Severn Beach) said:

“The Severnside Community Rail Partnership does a tremendous amount of good work and this whopping 49 per cent in passenger numbers is testament to these marvellous efforts.”

“All we can do is encourage people to leave their cars at home and use public transport and it’s great to see this being done in ever increasing numbers on the Severn Beach line.”

“And there’s always more we can do to keep this trend heading in the right direction, particularly improving reliability.”

More: Council transport chief is "delighted" with figures »

Source: Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council

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A press release from the Save Filton Airfield Group in response to the decision by South Gloucestershire planners to include Filton Airfield as a strategic development location (for housing and employment) in the latest revision of their Core Strategy.

Monday 5th December 2011 was a sad day for Bristol as South Gloucestershire Council planners backed the termination of more than one hundred years of aviation development in this City.

Rather than supporting manufacturing and engineering in the region, the planners want up to 3,000 homes to be built on the Filton Airfield site. These homes will be in addition to 2,000 new homes at Harry Stoke, 1,700 at Charlton Hayes, and 1,750 at Cribbs Causeway/Patchway. This brings the number of planned homes in this small, already congested area to over 8,000 – the size of Bradley Stoke.

Yesterday (5th December), on BBC Radio Bristol, Councillor Brian Allinson, Executive Member for Planning, Transportation and Strategic Environment stated:

“We are determined to ensure aerospace related industries get a priority for coming to the area”.

More: Councillors warned against building houses on runway site »

Source: Save Filton Airfield Campaign Group

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Filton Airfield, earmarked for closure at the end of 2012 by its owner BAE Systems, made £1.3m profit in 2010, the BBC has revealed.

The news has angered campaigners who would like to see the airfield kept operational because the company described the facility as “unviable” when justifying its decision to close it at the end of 2012.

The news was revealed last night as South Gloucestershire councillors debated a Labour motion calling on the authority to commit to blocking a change of use for the airfield site.

It is believed the BBC obtained the information from accounts lodged at Companies House.

A BAE Systems spokesperson claimed the 2010 result was an unsustainable anomaly, the airfield having made a loss for four of the last five years.

The company said it was unable to explain, on grounds of commercial confidentiality, why the airfield suddenly became profitable in 2010, but provided the following statement to The Post:

“As the owner and operator, BAE Systems has repeatedly said that Filton Airfield has been loss-making over the last decade in spite of concerted efforts to increase its usage through marketing. This situation was forecast when its high level of fixed costs were highlighted during the public enquiry some 15 years ago, during an attempt to sustainably increase use of the airfield and make it viable into the long term by introducing limited scheduled commercial flights. However as history records, this plan was turned down at public enquiry and dismissed on appeal.”

Read the rest of the BAE statement; Outcome of the debate »

In response to a request by South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) that BAE Systems “further explains and justifies its decision to close Filton Airfield”, the defence company has now published a detailed report that will be considered by the council when it revises its draft Core Strategy later this year.

The report, entitled “Filton Airfield Aviation Options Report” can be viewed on a new website called Developing Filton Airfield that has been set up by BAE Systems to “show the steps we’ve taken to consider, consult and pursue alternatives [to the closure]“.

A message on the Introduction page of the new website explains:

“We want to show that the decision to close is one we’ve taken responsibly, having exhausted all the other options available to us. We also want to show how our plans for the future will give Filton greater benefits than those currently offered by the runway.”

The airfield closure issue will also be discussed this evening at a meeting of SGC’s Full Council [agenda].

Councillor Ian Scott (Filton) will question whether SGC has the internal expertise to evaluate BAE Systems’ Filton Airfield Aviation Options Report.

Council to debate motion calling for development of Filton Airfield to be blocked »