A CALL for year-on-year growth of air travel to be examined has come from the warden of Oare Marshes. Tony Swandale said there needed to be a reduction in aircraft emissions one of the main causes of the greenhouse effect. He was talking in the wake of the High Court judicial review decision about the proposed Cliffe airport which ruled it was "irrational" to exclude all reasonable alternatives to airport expansion. The decision that Gatwick should be in the frame meant a partial and perhaps permanent reprieve for the wildlife at Cliffe and was good news for the birds at Oare Marshes, he said. At the moment planes that fly low overhead are disruptive to the reserve, frightening birds and causing them to fly up. The direct impact of a Cliffe airport would depend on the flight paths and the altitude the planes were at when they flew over Oare Marshes. Mr Swandale said: "Cliffe airport would have an enormous impact on one of the most important areas for wildlife in Europe and that's bound to have an effect on the surrounding areas. "Oare is part of the Swale estuary, which is part of the Medway which is part of the Thames." However, he said there was a wider general issue that of increased air transport and air travel. "What the Kent Wildlife Trust would say is the importance should be on managing air travel rather than continually expanding it," he said. "We should be looking at ways of reducing aircraft emissions because, of course, aircraft are one of the major contributors to the greenhouse effect." The social costs of an airport at Cliffe, would be huge for the region, he said. Firstly local jobs and tourism were affected when people travelled to far-flung destinations and spent their money elsewhere. It would also lead to huge development in the region generally. More houses would be built and more roads would obviously put increased pressure on the countryside and wildlife, he said.