The land use conXicts between Canberra airport and residential
land developers underline the strategic planning
issue that became increasingly apparent over the course of
the case study. It raises the issue of the extent to which airports
can dominate planning processes to serve their ends.
For example, the ACT Government’s policy and planning
agenda has sought to support aviation-driven assumptions
such as the linking of airport expansion with regional economic
development.
Relevant here are Upham’s (2001, p. 247) observations
in the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU),
where he notes that airport practice and government policy
aim to mitigate the impacts of aviation, but not at the
expense of aviation growth. Therefore sustainability
“should not be taken to mean a realised commitment to
environmental impact reduction”, but more “a consideration
of environmental and social impacts alongside environmental
and Wnancial performance”. For the major EU
airports reviewed in his study, he Wnds no evidence of a
reduction in environmental impact or a commitment to
consumption or waste limits.