Both Stansted and Southampton airports have been hit by fresh legal challenges lodged against their expansion plans.
Uttlesford District Council is seeking to challenge the Planning Inspectorate’s decision regarding Stansted, while campaigners are mounting a challenge against the Southampton proposal.
Stansted’s expansion plans had been refused by Uttlesford District Council’s Planning Committee in January 2020, but that decision was overturned by the Planning Inspectorate last month following a public inquiry, with the council told to pay the airport’s appeal bill.
The council is now asking the permission of the High Court to challenge the Planning Inspectorate’s decision. An application is being prepared and will be submitted by 8 July.
Council leader councillor John Lodge said: “The reasons that the inspectors gave in their letters were not sufficiently clear to enable the residents of Uttlesford to understand why these particular decisions have been taken.
“We have accepted leading counsel’s advice and are hopeful that the courts will grant a review of the panel’s decisions. This is a two-stage process so we will need to wait to see what the outcome of our preliminary application is before deciding on our next steps.”
A London Stansted Airport spokesperson said: “We will wait to see the details of any potential challenge to the decision of the Planning Inspectorate but any such steps taken by UDC is a matter for them.”
Meanwhile, campaigners Airport Expansion Opposition (AXO) are mounting a challenge against Southampton Airport’s plans to extend its runway by 164m, formally approved by Eastleigh Borough Council this month after a 36-hour long meeting in April.
AXO have called the decision “wrong both in the way it was taken and the arguments to justify it”.
The planning approval came despite a previous agreement with the government to delay and requests for the government to ‘call in’ the decision. The council said it issued planning permission after giving notice to ministers and receiving no reply by the end of May.
AXO has called for the runway extension to be independently reviewed, claiming increased aircraft noise would be heard outside of Eastleigh.
Spokesman John Lauwerys said the airport has “greatly overstated the economic benefits of expansion, which will adversely affect the quality of lives of around 46,000 residents, whilst hugely underplaying the environmental impact”.
He added: “We are calling for the decision to undergo independent scrutiny.
“We know we have widespread support in the community, and urge those who agree with us to contribute to our fighting fund.”
The airport has said the proposals would facilitate larger planes and generate an extra £240M for the local economy by the 2037. It said it had agreed a cap of 3M passengers per year and enhanced noise controls.
Operations director Steve Szalay said: “We are extremely disappointed that the challenge from the opposition group may potentially add further delay to not only the project but also the creation of over 250 jobs as part of the construction phase.
“We are resolutely committed to these runway extension plans and the 2,500 jobs it will protect and enable.”
The council said it was confident its decision and procedures were sound. It emphasised that its members had examined “extensive evidence” while respecting relevant legislation and planning policy.
There has been much debate surrounding the future of airports given environmental concerns and the drop in passenger demand as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Committee on Climate Change’s Sixth Carbon Budget – released in December last year – advises the government that any increase in UK airport capacity would need to be matched by restrictions at other airports to ensure no ‘net increase’.
In August last year, the £500M expansion project of London City Airport was paused indefinitely because of the economic slump caused by Covid-19. This was the latest blow to the aviation industry, with expansion plans at Bristol cast in doubt due to environmental challenges, along with the court battle over Heathrow.
Earlier this year, proposals to turn Gatwick Airport’s emergency northern runway into a routinely used second runway were given a boost, with investors backing the plans – although environmentalists have also raised concerns.
Article originally appeared on New Civil Engineering.
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