Airport expansion is triumph of greed over nature

Yet again Lydd Airport manager Hani Mutlaq (Rye Observer May 23) makes highly questionable claims for his airport. For every family who, in his words, will be ‘brought hope’ in terms of jobs, there are thousands more who will be brought to despair by the destruction of the unique environment of Romney Marsh. But then Shepway Council and David Cameron’s government have shown that they are more than willing to sacrifice Britain’s countryside for what they perceive as material gain. The pursuit of economic growth as the goal of all social policy begs the question: ‘What, ultimately, for?’ When the overriding aim of that policy is material wealth with no regard for the degradation of the environment, there is little hope for that environment or, indeed, planet Earth.