Why do blocked airport expansions keep being overturned?

So, why does this keep happening - and what is the status of the UK's various mooted expansions?

Another scheme to have its rejection overturned is the Bristol Airport expansion. North Somerset Council rejected the project in February 2020, but this was appealed and eventually overturned by the Planning Inspectorate in February this year. Campaigners against the expansion have now been granted a hearing in the High Court later this year.

Meanwhile Stansted's expansion plans had been refused by Uttlesford District Council's Planning Committee in January 2020, but that decision was also overturned by the Planning Inspectorate following a public inquiry, with the council told to pay the airport's appeal bill. The Inspector's decision report pointed to various failures by the council and a High Court judge later dismissed its challenge to expansion at Stansted Airport as “unarguable”.

The Bristol and Stansted projects were overturned by the Planning Inspectorate and Manston by the secretary of state, and in both cases Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) director Tim Johnson has emphasised what the AEF see as a flawed decision making process, based on outdated policies.

"At Bristol and Stansted, the inspectors accepted that aircraft emissions were largely an issue for national policy and the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) and Making Best Use (MBU) both supported growth," he said. "While both councils had declared climate emergencies these had not yet found their way into relevant local plan considerations.

"We have criticised relying on the ANPS and MBU because both documents were issued prior to net zero legislation coming into effect. At Manston, the secretary of state relied on the government's Jet Zero strategy which isn't aligned with the Committee on Climate Change's advice and has been criticised by NGOs for being a high risk strategy that relies on unproven technologies."

The planning application for Manston was submitted by RiverOak Strategic Partners’ (RSP). RSP director Tony Freudmann believes that the decision letter makes it clear "that the DCO proposals for Manston are consistent with all relevant government policies, including not only the ANPS but also the Aviation Policy Framework, General Aviation strategy and Transport Decarbonisation Plan".

He said the letter also recognises "the contribution Manston will make to resilience in UK’s under-pressure freight transport sector – something the government is also focused upon, given the challenging global and domestic economic climate".

Freudmann added: "In addition, as an airport with more than 100 years of operational history, the use of Manston is also consistent with the government’s MBU policy. Thirdly, as well as its alignment with all relevant government policies, Manston will also make a significant contribution to the decarbonisation of aviation and so is aligned with the 2022 Jet Zero consultation outcomes – but these are only policy proposals at this stage and, as the government makes clear in its letter, this is by far and away not the only policy upon which the decision is based."

In the case of Bristol, planners found that in terms of the planning balance, climate change should be seen as “neutral”. According to New Economics Foundation senior researcher Alex Chapman, who gave evidence at the inquiry, that means the airport expansion's impact on the environment was "entirely discounted" from the Planning Inspectorate's decision-making process. Chapman added that this is an “incredibly dangerous precedent” to set.

Speaking in the context of Manston, Freudmann does believe that "decisions on major infrastructure projects require balance" and aviation, in particular cargo, "is not a luxury that the UK economy can live without".

"So it is incumbent on both airlines, airport operators and governments to work together to protect its vital role in the economy, whilst simultaneously striving towards sustainability," he said.

"Whilst we recognise that NGOs would like absolute certainty over how Manston’s contribution to Jet Zero will be delivered now, the government has made it clear that it requires ‘high innovation’ – something which we have willingly committed to delivering within the terms of the DCO, based upon the significant levels of investment, innovation and testing on alternative aviation fuels and technologies underway in the global aviation community, including those of HyPoint, with which Manston already has an agreement to support its testing of zero carbon-emission turbo air-cooled hydrogen fuel cell systems for aviation and urban air mobility.”

Currently, there are more than half a dozen expansions currently being mooted in the UK, but experts have said the government’s stance on decarbonising aviation remains lacklustre.

Other projects powering ahead include the Southampton Airport runway extension, given the go ahead after the Court of Appeal upheld Eastleigh Borough Council's decision to approve the plans. Unlike Manston, Southampton and Stansted, the scheme was initially approved in April 2021 but campaigners from GOESA (Group Opposing the Expansion of Southampton Airport) claimed permission was "unlawfully granted". Recently, Heathrow also declared that the pandemic strengthened its case for expansion.

However Luton Airport’s expansion plans are in doubt with the government announcing that it would hold an inquiry into the proposal after plans to increase passengers at the airport from 18M per year to 19M were approved by the local council in December.

Plans for a major expansion at Leeds Bradford Airport were also scrapped following months of intense scrutiny.

Earlier this year 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.

The government has, however, committed itself to achieving net zero within the aviation sector in its recently-published Transport Decarbonisation Plan. It has also recently consulted on a Net Zero Aviation Strategy, setting out how industry will play its part in delivering the country's net zero commitments.

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