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New Plymouth Airport?
- Thread starter HerthaBSC
- Start date
Green_Flash":6j5mnyze said:
I agree, it's taken me longer to get from Gatwick to Croydon than Exeter to Plymouth. A dedicated Bus Service to Exeter Airport or Train / Tramline would help.
I use Bristol Airport frequently and take the Falcon 24 / 7 Service. It does stops at the Exeter Park and Rides but would require a bit of a faff to get to the Airport. Bristol Airport it drops off literally outside the Departures Entrance.
Bil":1jhbot82 said:
Yep, for anybody (like myself) who lives in central Cornwall or down west...or north east...it’s far easier to get to Exeter than Plymouth anyway.
There is a fundamental flaw in believing that there will every be centrally sponsored funding to support the South West and in particular Plymouth. The current electoral boundary system is geared to high profile cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool. There is no political interest regardless of political colour in pumping money by way of infrastructure development into the South West. The whole of Devon has a smaller number of parliamentary constituencies than London, Manchester and Also Birmingham. Why would any government pump money into an area which is not going to have a significant impact on their on going election results.
Same reason we have no motorway west of Exeter, No international airport, no high speed rail link, no resolution of a single rail link only open courtesy of the state of the sea. From the view of the dumbos who happily sponge,on the taxpayer and trip in and out of the Houses of Parliament we are only good,for a second home. Scotland has 4 international airports yet a population only marginally bigger than that of Devon. Scotland receives a fair larger distribution of centrally raised funding per capital than England. It is all a carve up and the South West loses out big time.
Same reason we have no motorway west of Exeter, No international airport, no high speed rail link, no resolution of a single rail link only open courtesy of the state of the sea. From the view of the dumbos who happily sponge,on the taxpayer and trip in and out of the Houses of Parliament we are only good,for a second home. Scotland has 4 international airports yet a population only marginally bigger than that of Devon. Scotland receives a fair larger distribution of centrally raised funding per capital than England. It is all a carve up and the South West loses out big time.
Presto":dwpgclmc said:
A very accurate summary of where we find ourselves. But I think we can add to that list, a large degree of complacency from us, the South West populace. We're happy to take it on the chin. And I think that's something that you could never say about the Scots.
And, this complacency has permeated us, Argyle supporters over the years; If I had a quid for the number of times I heard 'typical Argyle...' I'd have a quite a few bob extra now.
Time for a mentality change, to expect success and don't settle for anything less
And, time for us to make a bit of noise, tell our MPs enough is enough.
Agreed there is an issue with complacency. However as long as the west country has a tiny intentioned will manage to persuade the treasury to inject funding. Only the North and the Home Counties will do that. However well meaning our MPs. Be they red, blue, yellow or green they will not achieve the sort of investment we need. You can call me defeatist but in truth I am a realist. No one in parliament gives a b-locks. about the rural outpost of the South West Peninsula. It is not a new phenomenon I am approaching my 76th birthday and it has always been thus.
Presto":1socd3o3 said:
You make some good points but Scotland has a population far greater than Devon.
If you're measuring airports by population then Scotland should probably have more than four international airports.
Presto":2gmvca93 said:
Scotland has a population of 5,000,000 people. Plymouth is the biggest city in Devon with 300,000 people.
There is nothing like Glasgow or Edinburgh in Devon, the population is a lot smaller. Easily less than 1,000,000 I'd have thought and much smaller geographically. There is already an international airport here in Exeter - do you really need another one 40 miles down the road?
Lundan Cabbie":2zrvke2q said:
Exeter is only a fast drive or a direct train ride away.
How much faster do you require - HS2?
For those who want an airport in Plymouth, I have lived near an airport and believe me when I say you don't want jumbo jet engines flying over your house all day and evening.
The lack of air travel descending into Plymouth is no bad thing.
Scotland has a population of 5,000,000 people. Plymouth is the biggest city in Devon with 300,000 people.
There is nothing like Glasgow or Edinburgh in Devon, the population is a lot smaller. Easily less than 1,000,000 I'd have thought and much smaller geographically. There is already an international airport here in Exeter - do you really need another one 40 miles down the road?[/quote]
The population of Devon is over 1 million, probably a little over 1.1million with Plymouth making up approx a quarter of the overall population.
That said with environmental concerns abound currently and air travel being seen as such a significant contributor to carbon emissions the likelihood of being given the go ahead to reopen the city’s airport with what would probably be a new carrier/airline is minimal unfortunately.
As others have said a (direct, if possible) rail link to Devon/Exeter airport would be a boost, it could even provide an alternative route to the troublesome Dawlish line. Although why would the government fund such a thing? Especially as most of the parliamentary seats in the area are solid blue giving less incentive to ‘buy’ support.
There is nothing like Glasgow or Edinburgh in Devon, the population is a lot smaller. Easily less than 1,000,000 I'd have thought and much smaller geographically. There is already an international airport here in Exeter - do you really need another one 40 miles down the road?[/quote]
The population of Devon is over 1 million, probably a little over 1.1million with Plymouth making up approx a quarter of the overall population.
That said with environmental concerns abound currently and air travel being seen as such a significant contributor to carbon emissions the likelihood of being given the go ahead to reopen the city’s airport with what would probably be a new carrier/airline is minimal unfortunately.
As others have said a (direct, if possible) rail link to Devon/Exeter airport would be a boost, it could even provide an alternative route to the troublesome Dawlish line. Although why would the government fund such a thing? Especially as most of the parliamentary seats in the area are solid blue giving less incentive to ‘buy’ support.
Cant see an airport opening again in this city. Exeter airport is going to have problems soon because Flybe is going to cut flights when the restructuring process really begins. I know people who work for Flybe and they are still worried about their jobs over the next year or two. Let's be honest Newquay airport only survives because of government subsidies for certain flights and Cornwall county council subsidy for the airport itself. If it had to survive on it's own then it would probably have closed years ago.
M5 needs extending all the way to Plymouth.
Lines between Exeter and Oke/Tavistock need reopening with 3/4 tracks with a stopping service and also a direct service that can use the middle line(s) at a higher speed.
Exeter then needs a direct line to and from the airport, from both Honiton and Exeter sides of the airport.
Also upgrade the line from Basingstoke onwards and make that a high speed to Exeter as an alternative to Paddington/Reading line.
None of this will ever happen of course, but we can hope.
Lines between Exeter and Oke/Tavistock need reopening with 3/4 tracks with a stopping service and also a direct service that can use the middle line(s) at a higher speed.
Exeter then needs a direct line to and from the airport, from both Honiton and Exeter sides of the airport.
Also upgrade the line from Basingstoke onwards and make that a high speed to Exeter as an alternative to Paddington/Reading line.
None of this will ever happen of course, but we can hope.
The M5 does not need extending - it would cause untold environmental damage to a beautiful area to upgrade the a38 to motorway grade, cut off lots of smaller towns that currently have access to it and it is completely unnecessary- travel volumes halve once the m5 splits into the A30 and the A38. As a regular user there is rarely a problem with volume of traffic on a38 (the problems all happen on the m5 and a30)
There should have been an airport in Plymouth, no question.
However, the ship has sailed now - Exeter is easily close enough and adding another one in Plymouth wouldn't add anything to anyone's lives.
This is something where the only chance to get it right was 30/40 years ago, but not now - unless Exeter was closed In the future for some reason.
I 100% agree that the better thing would be to improve Exeter airport and make sure links from Plymouth are as good as they can be.
The motorway not making it to Plymouth however, that is an embarrassment and is something that needs to be addressed (but probably never will be).
However, the ship has sailed now - Exeter is easily close enough and adding another one in Plymouth wouldn't add anything to anyone's lives.
This is something where the only chance to get it right was 30/40 years ago, but not now - unless Exeter was closed In the future for some reason.
I 100% agree that the better thing would be to improve Exeter airport and make sure links from Plymouth are as good as they can be.
The motorway not making it to Plymouth however, that is an embarrassment and is something that needs to be addressed (but probably never will be).