Further expansion of Liverpool John Lennon Airport could lead to more deaths being recorded as a result of air pollution.
That is the view of an environmental campaigner after members of Liverpool Council confirmed a report would be drawn up to consider the impact of removing funding support from Liverpool John Lennon Airport (JLA).
Initially, Green Party members had sought for the local authority to strip funding entirely, with opposition councillors reluctantly accepting the report proposed by Labour Cllr Hetty Wood.
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An evidence based review of all council policies and plans relating to green space and the environment will also take place.
Stephanie Thompson, who represents Merseyside Greenpeace and Liverpool Friends of the Earth, said while reports were welcome, airport expansion in Speke would be detrimental.
She said: “A proper scientific risk assessment needs to be done now in Speke and Garston.
“While I’m pleased that there’ll be a study on the environmental risk, the community is already strongly affected by air pollution.”
She went on to cite the case of nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, whose death in London in 2020 was said to have had air pollution as a causal factor.
Thompson said the already busy A571 road nearby to JLA was an existing contributor towards pollution, saying any airport expansion would add to it.
Councillors across the chamber during Wednesday’s full council meeting expressed their opposition to potential growth at JLA with Climate Change and Environment Select Committee chair, Cllr Lena Simic, declaring: “Let’s be clear, nobody wants airport expansion.”
Former Lord Mayor Cllr Anna Rothery presented a petition on behalf of campaigners hoping to save Oglet Shore.
The Oglet Shore runs North West from Dungeon Lane, up to the Airport light gantry and almost to the earth mound that separates Speke Hall from the runway.
It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and regarded as a site of international importance for the wetland birds that live there.
Independent Cllr Rothery said it was clear existing documents relating to airport expansion were now out of date and a report into its future represented “a way forward” for all parties.
She said: “The reality is that decisions were made in a different time and didn’t take into account the objectives we now need to meet.
“The petition is for 10,089 residents who are concerned about the environment and access to public space for their mental health and wellbeing.
“It doesn’t have to be an either/or and I think we can find a way forward, this is an opportunity to listen to residents’ wants and needs.
“We can take on board the positives and negatives of this.”
Reports will go before councillors at the next meeting of the full local authority.
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