Against his own party: SVP mayor wants to tear down the slope extension

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It’s only a few hundred meters, but it heats people’s minds. Zurich airport wants to extend two runways for 250 million francs. Runway 28 will be expanded by 400 meters and runway 32 by 280 meters.

The voters of the canton of Zurich will have the final say on March 3. One person who will definitely vote no is Peter Meier-Neves (58). He is mayor of Rümlang ZH, a village directly adjacent to the airport. And he is an SVP member.

With his opposition to the expansion of the slopes, Meier-Neves goes against his party. This belongs to the group of supporters who argue that the longer runways make flight operations safer and more efficient. Meier-Neves doubts this.

“The current piste system is absolutely sufficient”

But the biggest problem for residents is noise. The noise pollution is significant, says Meier-Neves: “People in Rümlang feel disturbed and they tell me so.”

The runway extension would lead to greater use of runway 28 for landings, which would cause even more noise in Rümlang. Although it will remain quiet at night from 11 p.m. in the future, according to Meier-Neves this is no guarantee for a good night’s sleep: “There are regular flights that depart after closing time, although this is actually only intended for exceptions.”

Meier-Neves sees the safety argument as bogus. Today, big machines have to take off on a runway that intersects another and heads towards the third. A risk, says the airport. But the SVP politician thinks: “The current track system is absolutely sufficient.” If the security situation were inadequate, current air traffic would not be possible at all: “No plane would fly to Zurich airport.”

An unlikely alliance

There is only one way to achieve 100 percent safety: “You don’t fly anymore. And none of us want that.” In any case, that is not an option for Meier-Neves. Things may look different for the left-green opponents: they fear that the extension of the runways will lead to more flights and therefore more climate pollution. Meier-Neves also believes: “The airport is an economic enterprise. If you invest 250 million, you also want capital turnover.”

Although Meier-Neves agrees with Left-Green on the issue of expanding the slopes, he distances himself from their positions. “I see less of the climate focus. For me, protecting the population is my top priority.”

To underline the distance from the left-wing opponents of the airport expansion, the local politician also puts forward an SVP argument against the runway extension: immigration. “We are railing against a Switzerland of 10 million. But if we make the airport bigger, we will attract even more people.” Will this convince some party members?

Source:Blick