Green party wants Amsterdam to block Lelystad Airport expansion

After the municipal elections, GroenLinks wants the new Amsterdam city council to block expansion plans for Lelystad Airport, party leader Jesse Klaver and Amsterdam faction leader Rutger Groot Wassink said, NOS reports.

Lelystad Airport is owned by Schiphol. And Amsterdam has a 20 percent share in Schiphol. The green party wants Amsterdam to be an "activist" shareholder and stop expansion plans for Lelystad Airport.

The intention is for Lelystad Airport to take over part of Schiphol's flights, to relieve some pressure on the busy Amsterdam airport. Local residents fear that increased flights at Lelystad will cause a major increase in noise and air pollution. GroenLinks is also against the expansion plans, saying that they are bad for the climate, air quality and the peace of local residents.

The party is holding a so-called MeetUp against the expansion plans in Zwolle on Tuesday evening. "We will use the Amsterdam shareholder status to stop the growth of Schiphol. Shifting that growth to Lelystad is anti-social and not a solution." Klaver and Groot Wassink are confident that this can be done, pointing out that in 2006 the municipality of Amsterdam managed to stop the privatization of Schiphol by calling on its shareholder rights.

GroenLinks is currently an opposition party in Amsterdam. The green party is doing well in the polls, according to NOS. If the party gets good results in the municipal elections on March 21st, GroenLinks may well form part of the Dutch capital's college of mayor and aldermen.