Manston Airport given green light against planners’ recommendations

The Planning Inspectorate had previously concluded that "the Applicant had failed to demonstrate sufficient need for the Proposed Development, additional to (or different from) the need which is met by the provision of existing airports", and highlighted climate change, harm to heritage assets, noise, operational issues and impacts on local road network as other concerns.

As such its overall conclusion was that the benefits would not outweigh its impacts and that development consent should not be granted.

Despite this the project has been given the green light, paving the way for the airport to reopen. RiverOak Strategic Partners’ (RSP) planning application is specifically for the upgrade and reopening of the airport primarily as a freight airport, with some passenger services, with a capacity of at least 12,000 air cargo movements per year.

The planning decision marks the conclusion of a lengthy process, with a decision to grant the scheme's DCO originally published in July 2020. In February 2021, this was overturned by the High Court and the application was redetermined.

DCO applications are usually ruled on by the appropriate secretary of state, however in this case transport secretary Grant Shapps excused himself from the process due to a “conflict of interest”. Instead, transport minister Andrew Stephenson reviewed the application in 2020 and the decision has been re-taken by parliamentary under secretary of state for transport Karl McCartney.

Aviation Environment Federation director Tim Johnson emphasised that the decision "continues to ignore the recommendations of the Examining Authority".

He added: "The Authority concluded originally that the applicant had failed to demonstrate any need for the proposal which, consequently, could not justify the project's environmental impacts. The Secretary of State has side stepped this issue once again, relying instead on a weak argument that existing policy doesn't require airports to show demonstrable need. This sets a very low bar for airport expansions at a time when the Government says it's committed to delivering net zero aviation by 2050."

In its response to the consultation on the statement of matters, RSP said that need is mentioned only in one paragraph of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) which states: “The Government accepts that it may well be possible for existing airports to demonstrate sufficient need for their proposals, additional to (or different from) the need which is met by the provision of a Northwest Runway at Heathrow.”

It said that that the ANPS gives no further explanation as to what "sufficient" means in this context, adding that it does not agree with the assumption in the Examining Authority’s report that need is determinative as to whether the DCO should be granted.

As such, the decision letter concludes that "the Secretary of State agrees with the Applicant that the ANPS does not provide an explanation of ‘sufficient need’" and "does not agree with the way in which the Examining Authority has attempted to establish whether there is a need for the Development".

RSP director Tony Freudmann paid tribute to the support of local people and leaders across East Kent in helping to deliver the decision and shared the "bold and ambitious vision for the airport".

In recent months, Shapps has also gone against official advice from the Planning Inspectorate when granting planning applications for road schemes such as the Stonehenge Tunnel and the A303 dualling scheme.

Representing RSP, BDB Pitmans infrastructure planning partner Angus Walker said: "This is the second redetermination of four DCOs quashed in 2021 – the first four to suffer this fate – following the Norfolk Vanguard offshore windfarm in February. The other two, relating to improvements to the A38 in Derby and the A303 at Stonehenge, are still being reconsidered.

"Manston becomes for the second time the only airport DCO to be decided so far, and indeed the only airport DCO application to have been made, although DCOs for Luton, Gatwick and possibly Heathrow are coming forward in the future."

New Economics Foundation senior researcher Alex Chapman emphasised the gravity of the Manston decision.

“This summer we had our clearest sign yet that the climate crisis is here, and it is bringing with it serious threats to human health, environmental destruction, and economic decline," he said. "Yet today, the government has over-ruled its own advisors to approve development of Manston Airport, in doing so, pumping an additional 2.2M.t of greenhouse gases (CO2e) into the atmosphere every year, equivalent to the annual emissions of 420,000 UK residents.

"If we continue in this way we will die by a thousand cuts. Someone in government must take responsibility for turning climate rhetoric into action with bold and tangible decisions which change the way we do business in this country.”

Manston Airport, however, refutes Chapman's findings.

A spokesperson said: "Manston Airport will be a hub for cargo. Much of the UK’s cargo is being trucked to and from European airports. This is clearly an unnecessary environmental impact. Most fuel used and therefore emissions are generated on take-off and landing therefore a flight from, for example, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris to Dubai would be very similar in fuel use to a flight from Manston to Dubai. The trucking element, when surface transportation is necessary due to a lack of freight capacity in the UK, has been totally ignored in Alex Chapman’s analysis.

"At the moment, the UK is pushing its air freight emissions problem to parts of Europe. Therefore, when considered globally, the net result of reopening a new air freight facility at Manston will be a vast improvement on the current situation. Manston Airport is therefore not “pumping an additional 2.2M.t of greenhouse gases (CO2e) into the atmosphere every year” as Alex Chapman but rather saving emissions from road and water transportation."

The spokesperson emphasised that "no one is suggesting the climate crisis is not serious" but "Manston Airport has the huge advantage of being an almost greenfield site, unlike any other in Europe".

They added: "Manston will be able to technologically and environmentally leapfrog other airports that are encumbered by legacy infrastructure, equipment, systems, and processes. Whilst other airports, needing to recoup losses sustained during the Covid pandemic, will likely want to sweat their existing assets for as long as possible, Manston will have net zero buildings, clean fuelled ground vehicles, and make provision for aircraft using new propulsion systems. The future of clean flight will be in the DNA of Manston Airport."

The approval comes after Bristol Airport's expansion plans were approved on appeal in February and Southampton Airport was cleared for expansion earlier this month. Multiple legal battles that have marred expansion plans at Heathrow, Leeds Bradford, Southampton and Stansted Airport in the last year alone.

In addition research from the New Economics Foundation revealed that emission clean up costs from departing flights at the eight airport expansions underway across the UK have more than doubled to £73.6bn.

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