AOPA Iceland fights to preserve Vatnsmyri Airport
http://www.iaopa.eu/contentServlet/iaopa-europe-enews-december-2013#More5
AOPA Iceland is in the forefront of the campaign to save Reykjavik City’s airport, BIRK, from a massive housing development which is opposed by the vast majority of the people of Reykjavik.
There are huge profits to be made from the destruction of the airport and its replacement with 7,000 apartments, and despite public opposition the developers have politicians and city officials on their side.
Haraldur Diego of AOPA Iceland reports that when the airport was built by the British during World War II it was on the outskirts of town, but Reykjavik has since grown to encompass it and it is prime development land. It has been the subject of a long-running political dispute, with some of the oldest documented debates being over 70 years old, almost as old as the airport itself.
In 2001, a non-binding referendum revealed that the population of Reykjavik was split 50-50 on the issue, but in recent years more and more and more people have been leaning towards the retention of the airport in its current position. Now, 73% of the inhabitants do not want to relocate the airport.
But the current governing parties in the city are blunt about their opposition to the airport. Almost all development within the airport has been halted for decades. The domestic terminal is housed in a barracks built by the US army, and no new hangars have been permitted in the last 25 years, despite a growing need.
Grass-roots aviation organisers have been active in promoting support for the three-runway airport, and a petition to protect the ‘Heart of Vatnsmyri’, as the campaign was called, gathered 69,753 signatures. City officials, however, wish to ignore the voice of the people and let the developers loose on the land.
Over the last few months AOPA Iceland has been prominent in discussions with government and city officials, having political candidates meeting with the aviators on Saturday mornings at the airport clubhouse. These initiatives have been beneficial in terms of having been able to voice concerns over the development proposals, but the master plans have been passed by the City Council, with a massive residential development planned in Vatnsmyri by 2030. AOPA Iceland is hoping that upcoming elections will put in place a pro-airport party, willing to listen to the people of Reykjavik.
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