Manchester ID trials go awry

Manchester Airport is at the vanguard of biometric ID trials that were planned for rolling out across the country, but the programmes have been beset with technical hitches and staff opposition. The airport trialled the UK’s first biometric access control portal for staff, using iris recognition to monitor and control access to restricted areas. The biometric identity cards were to be compulsory for all staff at Manchester and London City Airports. Pilots warned that they would not co-operate with the trial. The ID scheme was quietly scaled down earlier this month, abandoned for existing employees, with only new staff expected to apply for an ID card.

Biometric face recognition for passengers, with five machines at Terminal 1 targeting so called ‘high risk’ passengers, began in August 2008 but has met with technical problems. Initially, the kit was set so that an 80 per cent likeness with passengers’ digital passports. David Lepard writes in The Times that leaked information from a member of staff claimed the machines were throwing up so many false negatives, a 70 per cent error rate, that long queues were developing, so the machines were recalibrated to a 30 per cent likeness. Ron Jenkins of Glasgow University, a leading expert was of the opinion that this would render the machines so ineffective as to be unable to distinguish between UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and actor Mel Gibson, or between Osama Bin Laden and actor Winona Ryder. The UK Border Agency categorically denied that the machines had been recalibrated.

News contributed by Rose Bridger

BREAKING NEWS:CAMPAIGNERS DISRUPT AVIATION CONFERENCE IN MANCHESTER

Today SEMA got word, a group of campaigners rushed an airport industry conference using rape alarms tied to helium balloons.

The three day conference was being hosted by Airports Council International. The protesters from the group Manchester Plane Stupid entered the Manchester Central conference venue (formerly GMEX) and sent the helium balloons reading 'Happy Retirement' to the top of the ceiling where they remained with the alarms ringing.

This occurred at exactly the time when the industry delegates were posing for a photo shoot for the launch of a new carbon reduction scheme at European airports which will not include the emissions from aircraft.

Meanwhile, other protesters held a banner outside the entrance reading, “Aviation Industry Conference – Climate Criminals Inside”.The conference was suspended whilst house staff struggled to remove the floating alarms from the ceiling.

A member of Manchester Plane Stupid said, “The airport industry is recklessly pushing ahead with expansion plans across the UK and Europe despite all the warnings about climate change. We cannot pursue this growth agenda if we are serious about tackling global warming”

..............SEMA concurs!


Crains Report on the action here

Biofuels are Not the Answer event -------------- Tuesday 12th May 2009

SEMA hosted an event on Biofuels on with Deepak Rughani and Rachel Boyd from Biofuelwatch.

Rachel Boyd relayed her experience of the effects of agrofuel expansion during her time in Columbia. She discussed the use of bribery and the threats of violence by paramilitaries to push people from their land in order to make way for large-scale mono plantations of fuel crops, rather than subsistence farming for food. She also discussed the cycles of debt that plantation workers fall into as well as the life threatening health hazards of heavy pesticide exposure with little protective clothing.

Deepak Rughani discussed the broader threat that biofuels present in terms of eco-system collapse, especially of the world's main carbon sinks such as in the Amazon. Worryingly, the aviation industry is looking towards biofuels as a way of greenwashing their growth. Deepak cited some test cases from airlines such as Virgin using aircraft fuel from plant matter such as coconuts. He argued that these were little more than publicity stunts given the amount of coconuts that would be needed to run the industry in this way.

Biofuels have already caused rises in world food prices in recent years. Studies show that when we factor in the fossil fuel needed to produce and refine agrofuels, as well as the loss of carbon sinks and potential to absorb, biofuels present little by way of CO2 cuts. If the world continues to pursue this false solution to climate change, it will find itself faced with the threat of eco-system collapse as well as the social injustice of land displacement and world hunger caused by rising food prices. Clearly - biofuels are not the answer.

www.biofuelwatch.org.uk


You can download Deepak's powerpoint presentation 'The Greening of Aviation: Biofuels, the final justification for airport expansion' from the SEMA website soon.

Manchester Airport to become ‘mini-city’

contrails
Originally uploaded by RoseBridger

Manchester Airport Group has announced that Manchester Airport is to be transformed into a ‘mini-city’ with hotels, leisure, entertainment and conference facilities, along with yet more retail outlets. There will be more cargo and logistics facilities like warehouses, and possibly manufacturing. The Airport has purchased 30 acres from Burford Group, a property firm, at a cost of more than £15 million, for development, which will also extend into the surrounding area.

So, what will all these diverse elements have in common? Manchester Airport City is based on established airport centric developments including Schiphol in the Netherlands, where the airport city concept expands the airport’s role as a gigantic landlord. If this is the model for Manchester Airport City, the new facilities will generate revenues for the airport, in the way as the existing retail and car parking facilities. This keeps the landing and navigations fees down for the airlines. The revenues also help fund further aviation infrastructure growth, such as terminals and runways. Tenants are chosen to boost the airport’s passenger numbers and cargo volumes.

Airports around the world aspire to Schiphol Airport’s role as a gigantic landlord, generating 75 per cent of its revenues from non-aeronautical activities. In addition to what the aviation industry sometimes refers to as ‘airport support community’ of related industries, airports around the world generate revenues from a bewildering range of seemingly unrelated functions. This encompasses golf courses (compatible with airports as the grass can be controlled to minimise wildlife and the risk of bird strikes), museums, theme parks and even what might be thought of as civic functions like schools and hospitals. Even though the facilities form part of the airport’s revenue stream, they can be outside the airport fence and appear to be part of the host community.

If Manchester’s ‘airport city’ plans are similar to others around the world, this development could be central to the airport’s growth plans and future financial viability. According to the Manchester Airports Group, the development of Manchester Airport City will help the airport meet its goals of doubling passenger numbers to more than 50 million per year by 2030, and increase cargo volumes from 166,500 tonnes in 2007 to 250,000 tonnes by 2015. Like many airports, Manchester Airport’s business is declining, with passenger numbers falling by nearly 4 per cent in 2008. Cargo volumes have plummeted month after month, with January 2008’s freight volumes 42 per cent less than January 2007.

News contributed by Rose Bridger

Mancester Council - We must grow the Airport to cut emissions

In responding to Friends of the Earth's submission to the Local Development Framework consultation, >Manchester City Council argue that it must grow the Airport in order fund a reduction in CO2 emissions.

"The Friends of the Earth (FOE) alternative option is a low growth scenario but with particular emphasis on restricting growth at the Airport. When considering options for the Core Strategy the validity of a low growth scenario was considered but discounted for the following reasons:-

• Without economic growth the target to reduce CO2 emissions could not be reached. Growth is essential to fund critical infrastructure e.g. renewable energy networks and to ensure innovation and progress in technology together with retrofitting to achieve carbon reduction in existing development."

We at SEMA have been left scratching our heads at this seemingly bizarre conundrum. An expanding airport will mean even more emissions to cut. Surely we can't grow our way out of the problem of climate change? In any case, >the economic growth argument is routinely overstated by the industry. We look forward to more capers of logic from the Council soon.

Save Rose Cottage Petition Handed-In

Over thirty people arrived at the Town Hall on the afternoon of Monday 23rd to voice their opposition.

The campaign describes Rose Cottage as a stunning grade II listed 17th Century dwelling, beautifully maintained by the current tenants, a family of three. It, along with three other properties are situated on the historic "Hasty Lane" on the edge of Manchester Airport.
Nearby is a 300 year old natural pond hosting a colony of great crested newts. It is surrounded by dozens of mature trees and beautifully preserved and balanced ecology. It is an environmental and historical oasis in the midst of heavy modern industry.

The Airport plan to demolish the buildings, fell the trees and concrete over the pond to build two giant air freight cargo units. They argue that the development will be good for the local economy.
A coalition of English Heritage, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit, the Council for British Archaeology, local councillors and residents and others all oppose the plans.

The petition urges Manchester Planning and Highways Committee to reject the airport's application. To find out more, or to sign the petition follow the link below.
Campaign website