However, in general, I am symphatetic to a solution where all local grievances get a hearing and solutions are sought, even if it costs extra time, rather than (heh) railroad over any protests. Some NIMBY protests are justified, and not only when the issue is an airport runway or new highway, even for cleaner technologies I favour.
In Britain, it may be that NIMBYs don't have to make a strong case. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Similarly, the land area around Roissy was reserved more than 40 years ago, thus the airport is the only one in Europe that can extend pretty easily (whether that's a good thing today is another debate), because the NIMBYs has very little recourse - because no backyards could be built where there'd a conflict...
Very long term strategic planning by the State can make things a lot easier later. There's still a bit of that going on in the French government, but less than there used to be, unfortunately. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
