BALANCING much needed economic development with the interests of the environment, conservation and amenity is the challenge of 21st century Britain.
We are a small country and this seemingly ever-present conflict is made worse by our compact dimensions.
The good folk of Middleton St George are waking up to the full extent of neighbouring Durham Tees Valley Airport's expansion plans - and on the evidence of the growing number of objections copied in to this newspaper, they don't like it.
Loss of wildlife, noise and inappropriate use of countryside are cited as reasons to stop the airport's plans. Certainly Middleton One Row is a particularly beautiful spot, but we think residents there and in the main village are up against it if they think they can hold up the proposals.
Their problem is the economic benefits of a growing airport to the Darlington and Teesside area are too great to be stymied by planning objections of this nature. Wildlife, amenity, pollution levels and perhaps even house prices will be affected by the development but not to the degree which justifies putting a halt to the airport's expansion.
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