Campaign makes legal threat to halt £150m airport plan
A GROUP of campaigners has claimed it will take legal action to stop work on the proposed expansion of Leeds Bradford Airport if necessary.
It follows news that detailed plans for the airport’s £150m revamp were submitted to Leeds Council and published online yesterday.
The plans include a new threestorey terminal building, close to the proposed Leeds Bradford Airport parkway rail station, and are expected to be up and running in 2023. The proposals also include increasing daytime flight times.
But the Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (GALBA) claims the plans contradict Leeds Council’s climate emergency policy, as the increase in flights and traffic would add to CO2 emissions and noise in the area.
The group also claim the public will not have enough time to understand the dozens of complex planning documents in the required consultation period.
Chris Foren, chair of GALBA, said: “It’s ridiculous to expect local people to read, understand and respond to such a lot of technical detail in just 21 days. This decision is extremely important for the future of the region – that timescale is completely unfair and unrealistic.
“Expansion would bring more noise for local communities, increased air pollution, more traffic congestion and pump much more CO2 into the atmosphere – making the climate emergency worse. We need to rebuild a healthy economy in Leeds. We don’t need an unsustainable development like this.”
A statement from GALBA claimed the group had “vowed to fight the airport’s plans, taking legal action if necessary”, adding similar campaigns against expansion of Bristol, Heathrow and Stansted airports had been successful.
The application itself claimed the current terminal is dated and inefficient, and that the airport risks losing more passengers to nearby Manchester Airport unless improvements are approved.
It said: “There are clear environmental benefits in improving the existing infrastructure at the airport.
“The current terminal is aged and has been the subject of a series of extensions since it was first built in the 1960s, which has resulted in a dated and inefficient
operation, which compromises its environmental integrity.
“Opportunities to improve the existing terminal’s environmental performance are limited,” the applicants stated.
They added that the airport is expecting seven million passengers a year by 2030 – but that it would not be possible without the overhaul.
The planning application went on to state that the developments would add £40m a year to Leeds and the surrounding area, and “support” nearly 9,000 jobs.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that as part of the plans, daytime flight times – during which more planes can take off and land at the airport – would be extended to between 6am and 11.30pm.
A member of the public, who declined to be named, said not enough time was given for the public to comment on the plans.
However, a spokesperson for Leeds Council said: “We can confirm that a planning application for a replacement terminal at Leeds Bradford Airport has been received and validated.
“This application will be duly considered through the planning application process.”
The application is available to view on the council website and the council asks that comments be sent via the website or by email rather than on paper “as the council continues to adhere to the current government requirements for social distancing”.