A reader says future generations of Bristol residents will "regret" the decision to build on Filton Airfield rather than bring it back into use.
The runway closed almost a decade ago in 2012 after 100 years of flights there, including the historic UK test flight of the Concorde in 1969, and was sold for development.
It is now a building site in the midst of one of the region's biggest housing and leisure projects - the new Brabazon neighbourhood will deliver up to 3,675 homes there, while the former Brabazon hangar will become Bristol Arena.
READ MORE: Airbus workers in Filton ballot for strike action over pay
However, in a letter sent to the Bristol Post, one reader expressed that Filton Airfield should be brought back into use and that the decision to "destroy" it would be one the city lives to regret.
The calls are too late given that the housing estate is already partially built, and planning permission has already been granted.
The letter signed off by a P Collins, which was published in Monday's paper (January 24), read:
"Bristol Airport has been trying to get planning permission to expand so it must be expecting an increase in those who will wish to travel by air in future.
"We already had a long runway at Filton, so long that the village of Charlton was knocked down to build it. It was built to accommodate the biggest plane of the time, the Bristol Brabazon, which sadly did not become the airliner of the future that it was expected to be.
"So the Filton runway should be suitable for any of the present day planes, and possibly even bigger planes, built in the future.
"It makes no sense to destroy such a valuable asset to build houses when on the other side of the city they are crying out for such a wonderful facility.
"Filton is close to the M4 and M5 motorways, the [Bristol] Parkway station is nearby, and so it [is] easily accessible from anywhere in the country by road and rail, and from Wales via the Severn Bridges.
"Moreover people do not have to travel through the congested city streets of Bristol to get to it.
"I am sure that future generations will regret this generation’s decision to build houses on it, in the same way that many people now regret the loss of many railway services in the 1960s and since."
At the time of the airfield's closure, BAE Systems said Filton was no longer viable.
The area's aviation legacy still lives on at Aerospace Bristol nearby and the Brabazon neighbourhood will also have visible links to its past.
Brabazon's brochure for prospective homeowners there states that the entire development is "inspired by an icon of engineering", referring to the Brabazon airliner it took its name from.
A new application last month stated that it will feature a heritage trail noting the site's rich history, including a "stepping stone path constructed with blocks of concrete reclaimed from the Filton Airfield runway".
Last month Seb Loyn, planning and development director for YTL Developments, said: "Brabazon is the largest brownfield site in the South West at a time when our region’s Green Belt is under unprecedented pressure.
“Nowhere in the West of England is better placed than Brabazon to build the new homes, offices, schools and community facilities we need, and to do so in a way that is environmentally and economically sustainable."
Meanwhile Bristol International Airport is still pushing for permission to expand its site in North Somerset to accommodate 12 million passengers per year.
North Somerset Council refused permission but the case went to a public inquiry on appeal, which ended in October.
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