COMMITTEE AGAINST EXPANSION OF AMPUGNANO AIRPORT –
SIENA
PRESS
RELEASE – 8 November 2007
DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PLAN TO ENLARGE THE AIRPORT OF SIENA
The
plan to enlarge the small airport of Ampugnano-Siena has been
in the public domain since the middle of September. The
project, presented by the international
investment fund Galaxy, does not conform to any
regional or national transport
plan and runs counter to the guidelines of the Piano
di Indirizzo Territoriale della
Toscana ( the Tuscan Territorial Policy Plan) of 2005-2010, according to which “lengthening the Ampugnano
runway to make the airport suitable for larger aeroplanes is
to be ruled out, since it is unnecessary and because of its
obvious and proven environmental impact ” (Masterplan of the
PIT on the Tuscan
airport system, in force since 17 October 2007).
The
project, which was improvised and based on a feasibility study
which is both questionable and superficial, envisages a number
of passengers and
annual flights that would make the environmental impact of the
facility equal to that of a large industrial area, which is
unsustainable for this area of inestimable value. Located
between the Montagnola
Senese, the city of Siena and the valleys of the rivers
Farma and Merse, this is a rare and extensive area scattered
with Romanesque churches and turreted houses. It consists of
over 3,000 hectares of woods, alluvial plains, meadows and
traditional agricultural areas, in which human activity has
been kept at a level that has enabled conservation of a number
of species and habitats amongst the highest in Italy. The area
in question is included in the 20 most representative national
areas for the protection of the biodiversity of the entire
Mediterranean ecoregion, and with the establishment of four
Sites of Community Importance (SCI) four Regional natural
reserves and a State reserve. To make matters worse, airport
activity – with its physiologically polluting emissions -
would take place
close to the ‘Luco’ aquifer, which supplies most of the
drinking water to Siena and its province, compromising one of
the most important aquifers in southern Tuscany.
It
is impossible to understand the reasoning of those who deem it
necessary to create a ‘niche’ airport out of nothing, thus
contravening the numerous directives issued by international
and European intergovernmental organisations aiming at a
reduction in the impact of human activity responsible for
climate change and loss of biodiversity.
While
Siena is served by its dangerous roads (the FI-SI and the
GR-SI) and slow rail links with long stretches of post-war
single track, the project proposes a new airport only 70, 110
and 90 km from the airports of
Florence, Pisa and Grosseto (the latter has just
received the go-ahead for civil aviation from the European
Union).
The
Siena airport project is dubious, being both useless and risky.
It will certainly contribute to an acceleration of the
rate at which uncontrolled building and concrete are devouring
Tuscany, confirming the unfortunate definition often used to
describe Italy: “the country of a hundred runways, but
no airport”.
The
Comitato contro l’ampliamento dell’aeroporto di Ampugnano-Siena (the
Committee against the enlargement of the airport of Ampugnano-Siena) is organising a demonstration in Siena on Saturday
10 November, with the following programme: 15.00 meeting at La
Lizza, procession through the streets of the town, finishing
up in Piazza Matteotti. The event is open to all citizens,
associations, political parties, civil lists, trades unions
and producer categories that sympathise with the objectives
and methods of the Committee.
COMITATO CONTRO L’AMPLIAMENTO DELL’AEROPORTO DI AMPUGNANO-SIENA
(COMMITTTEE AGAINST THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE AIRPORT OF AMPUGNANO-SIENA)
Email:
ampugnano@gmail.com - Fax: (+39) 0577 347 839 - Internet:
http://ospiti.comune.siena.it/filoerba/aeroporto/
Spontaneous
committee of citizens,
nonpartisan and democratic, formed in August 2007 against
the industrial plan to enlarge the airport of Ampugnano-Siena.
The Committee is supported by: Italia Nostra, WWF, Legambiente,
Rete dei Comitati per la Toscana di Asor Rosa, Ass. Filo
d'Erba,
Attac
Italia, Comitato per la Salvaguardia della Montagnola Senese,
Ass. Grilli Parlanti di Siena and the active citizens of the
municipalities of Siena, Monteriggioni and Sovicille.
