Carlisle Airport planning decision postponed till August as plans appear unrealistic
Date added: 16 July, 2011
Carlisle council delays decision on Stobart Group’s city airport plan
15 July 2011 (Cumberland News)
Stobart Group has been given more time to prove that its proposals to bring scheduled passenger flights and air freight to Carlisle Airport are realistic.
Andrew Tinkler
City councillors had been poised to refuse Stobart’s planning application to redevelop the airport today.
The company wants to build a 394,000sq ft freight-distribution centre and resurface the runway.
But aviation consultants brought in by the council concluded that passenger flights would not be “commercially viable” and there was “very little potential” for air freight.
That led planning officers to advise councillors to refuse the application on the grounds that “the distribution centre appears to be primarily for road haulage rather than airport related”.
Stobart strongly disagrees and asked for time to challenge the consultants’ findings.
Councillors on the development control committee agreed. The planning application will now be heard on August 19 at the earliest.
Stobart Group employees packed the public gallery in the council chamber for today’s meeting.
Stobart chief executive Andrew Tinkler said afterwards that deferring the application was the right decision.
He said: “Now we can sit down with the report and discuss with the council and go through the points that have been raised by the experts they have appointed.”
Nearly 100 business people attended a meeting at the Hallmark Hotel, Carlisle, last night to hear about Stobart’s plans.
They saw a video, which claimed 679 Stobart Group jobs in Cumbria would be at risk if the scheme is thwarted.
Without redevelopment, the airport would close or be used as a private airfield for freight.
Mr Tinkler said: “The last thing I want to do is move Stobart from Cumbria. Our business has been built with Cumbrian people.
“They are good workers. We’ve benefited from that and I want to keep that.”
He outlined proposals for scheduled flights to London Southend. The company claims the airport will be handling 200,000 passengers a year by 2025.
The freight operation would use small aircraft to fly fresh produce to the Scottish highlands and islands and the Isle of Man.
The distribution centre would employ 121 Eddie Stobart haulage staff moved from Kingstown and create 69 additional jobs. There would also be 20 new jobs on the aviation side.
Mr Tinkler added: “I want to get over what we’re trying to do. We believe in the vision. Even the council believes it can work but they did have expert advice, which questions what we’re trying to do.”
He said the council’s consultants, Alan Stratford and Associates, had based their findings on “speculation and guesswork”. He urged businesses to write to the council in support of his plans.
City councillors backed Stobart proposals to redevelop the airport as long ago as 2008. But the initial scheme was withdrawn after the then-Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears, called a public inquiry.
The council approved a second planning application in 2009 without referring it for a inquiry only for the decision to be quashed in the High Court when Irthington farmer Gordon Brown sought a judicial review.
Judges ruled that the council should have demanded an environmental impact assessment.
Mr Tinkler said the judicial review had been upheld on a “technicality”.
Trevor Howarth, Stobart’s legal adviser, told the meeting that the council was wary of ignoring the advice of consultants in case it was challenged in the courts again.
He added: “The council’s experts and Stobart’s experts are poles apart. But the experts they have instructed were discredited at a public inquiry recently at Farnborough Airport.”
Carlisle City Council has received 62 objections and 67 representations of support for Stobart’s scheme. The city council bought the former RAF Crosby-in-Eden in 1961 to operate as a civil airport but repeated attempts to launch passenger services in the 1980s and 1990s all foundered.
The city council is expected to deny Stobart permission to develop Carlisle Airport into a commercial logistics and air transport hub. The decision, recommended by planning officers at the council, could raise questions over the value of the asset.
Stobart bought the airport in 2009 for £14m from two of its directors, Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart. According to the company’s annual report the majority of the value in the acquisition, £8m, was for goodwill relating to “expected synergies available through development of the site” and “future earning potential”.
It is thought any impact on valuation is unlikely to be as large as the £8m of goodwill carried in accounts. Property valuer Drivas Jonas said without planning permission any fall in value is more likely to be between £0.4m and £0.9m.
The setback would be particularly sensitive for Stobart given it is currently mulling a larger related party transaction involving Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart.
The company is considering using part of a £115m fundraising completed earlier this year to acquire a portfolio of properties from Mr Tinkler and Mr Stobart.
At today’s planning meeting councillors at Carlisle City Council will consider the application to develop Carlisle Airport and surrounding land into a distribution centre and commercial airport. Council officers have recommended the permission be denied as it does not fit into the local plan and is not legal as there are problems with the environmental statement within the application.
A spokesman for Stobart said: “If the council decision is to deny permission we do not expect this to be the end of the process.”
The company held a meeting last night to rally support for its plans at Carlisle Airport.
Stobart Group planning PR campaign to get Carlisle Airport plans approved
By Julian Whittle
16 July 2011 (News & Star)
Stobart Group is planning a public relations blitz to persuade Carlisle city councillors to back its redevelopment plans for Carlisle Airport.
Stobart staff lobby the meeting
Chief executive Andrew Tinkler is urging businesses to write to the council saying why they support the scheme for a 394,000sq ft freight-distribution centre and resurfaced runway.
Councillors had been expected to turn down Stobart’s planning application yesterday.
But they put off a decision to give the company time to prove that its proposals for scheduled passenger flights and air freight are realistic.
Aviation consultants working for the council concluded that passenger flights would not be “commercially viable” and there was “very little potential” for air freight.
That led planning officers to advise councillors to refuse the application on the grounds that “the distribution centre appears to be primarily for road haulage rather than airport related”. Stobart strongly disagrees.
Its employees packed the public gallery at the Civic Centre for the development control committee meeting.
They burst into applause when councillors agreed to defer consideration of the planning application.
It will now be heard on August 19 at the earliest.
Mr Tinkler said afterwards: “Deferment is the right decision for the council, ourselves and the objectors. Now we can sit down with the report and discuss with the council the points that have been raised by the experts they appointed.”
Meanwhile, nearly 100 business people attended a meeting at the Hallmark Hotel, Carlisle, on Thursday night to hear about Stobart’s plans. They saw a video, which claimed 679 Stobart Group jobs in Cumbria would be at risk if the scheme is blocked.
Mr Tinkler said: “The last thing I want to do is move Stobart from Cumbria. Our business has been built with Cumbrian people.
“They are good workers. We’ve benefited from that and I want to keep that.”
He outlined proposals for scheduled flights to London Southend. The company claims that Carlisle Airport will be handling 200,000 passengers a year by 2025.
The freight operation would use small aircraft to fly fresh produce to the Scottish highlands and islands, and the Isle of Man.
The distribution centre would bring 121 Eddie Stobart haulage staff from Kingstown and create 69 jobs. There would also be 20 new jobs on the aviation side. Mr Tinkler said: “I want to get over what we’re trying to do. We believe in the vision.
“Even the council believes it can work but they have expert advice, which questions what we’re trying to do.”
He said the council’s consultants, Alan Stratford & Associates, had based their findings on “speculation and guesswork”.
City councillors backed Stobart proposals to redevelop the airport as long ago as 2008. The initial scheme was withdrawn after the then-Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears, called a public inquiry.
The council approved a second planning application in 2009 only for the decision to be quashed in the High Court when Irthington farmer Gordon Brown sought a judicial review. Judges ruled that the council should have demanded an environmental-impact assessment.
Trevor Howarth, Stobart’s legal adviser, told the meeting that the council was wary of ignoring the advice of consultants in case it was challenged in the courts again.
He added: “The council’s experts and Stobart’s experts are poles apart.
“The experts they have instructed were discredited at a public inquiry recently at Farnborough Airport.
“The consultants recommended refusal and the [planning] inspector overturned that decision.”
Carlisle City Council has received 62 objections and 67 representations of support for Stobart’s plans.
