Government (Chris Grayling and Sajid Javid) approve expansion of London City airport

The Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, and Communities Secretary, Sajid Javid, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, have announced they are allowing the expansion programme at London City Airport. The plans are for an extended terminal, new aircraft taxiway and parking spaces for planes, which will enable more, larger, noisier planes to use the airport. The government is hoping this is a symbol of Britain “being open for business” and increasing connections with Europe, at a time of great fears about the impact of Brexit. With government fears for the economy, they are trumpeting the expansion as creating “1,600 airport jobs for staff, together with 500 construction jobs” and huge benefits to the economy. All three ministers made extravagant and excited statements about the positive impact of this expansion.  Boris Johnson earlier turned it down on grounds of unacceptable noise levels for Londoners. Hacan East, the local campaign, is very concerned indeed about the noise. They say residents will now face a double whammy.  Earlier this year, in February, London City concentrated all its flight paths, and now the people under these flight paths face the prospect of more and larger planes.”  Cait Hewitt, from the Aviation Environment Federation, said: “It is hard to see how an increase in aircraft and in passengers travelling to and from London City can be compatible with the Mayor’s ambitious plans to tackle air pollution in London.”
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PERMISSION TO EXPAND CITY AIRPORT “A DOUBLE WHAMMY FOR RESIDENTS”

27.7.2016  (Hacan East press release)

The Government today announced that it has granted London City Airport permission to expand. Link (It is a 182 page document, not yet up on the DCLG website – 27th July).  It endorsed the recommendation of the Inspector who heard the evidence a Public Inquiry earlier this year.  The airport can now go-ahead with building a new taxiway and larger parking spaces to accommodate the bigger planes it wants to use at the airport.  But campaign group HACAN East has said it is bad news for residents.

HACAN East chair John Stewart said: “Residents face a double whammy.  Earlier this year, in February, London City concentrated all its flight paths.  Today the people under these flight paths face the prospect of more and larger planes.”

John Stewart added, “The airport claims that the expansion will create over a thousand jobs.  That is in the realm of speculation.  What is certain is that residents’ quality of life will get worse.”

More than ever now, this means London City airport’s decision last February to concentrate its flights paths should be reviewed.

On February 4th the CAA gave City Airport permission to concentrate its flight paths. See link. 

The government document comprises the final Decision letter and Inspector’s Report together with the right to challenge advice note for the above named case.   This document will also be available to view and download on the DCLG website at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/planning-applications-called-in-decisions-and-recovered-appeals


Inspector’s recommendation and summary of the decision

3. The Inspector recommended that the appeal be allowed and planning permission granted. 4. For the reasons given below, the Secretaries of State agree with the Inspector’s conclusions, and agree with his recommendation. …..

 


London City Airport expansion approved

Expansion at London City Airport has been approved in a joint statement by the Chancellor, Transport Secretary and Secretary of State for Local Government and Communities.

The expansion plan involves building 7 new aircraft stands and a new taxiway to increase peak time capacity, as well as expanded terminal facilities to enable the airport to reach its permitted capacity of 120,000 flights a year.

The scheme is expected to cost £344 million, and to allow a 40% increase in flights and an increase in passengers from 4.3m in 2015 to 6.5m each year by 2025. Flights during peak times would increase from 36 to 45 per hour. According to the statement from Hacan East on the application, the plans would lead to an increase in the size of the 57 Leq noise contour, nearly doubling the number of dwellings within the noise contour from 8,300 in 2012 to 15,100 in 2023. 

London City Airport is also adjacent to the Newham Air Quality Management Area in which several sites haved breached legal air quality limits designed to protect health.

The planning application was originally turned down by the Mayor of London based on its anticipated noise impacts, leading to the application going to Appeal. The local campaign group Hacan East acted as a rule 6 party, allowing them to question the airport’s expansion plans.

Following his election as Mayor, Sadiq Khan, dropped the Mayor’s opposition and the new Government has now announced the go-ahead for the scheme in a joint statement from several members of the Cabinet.

Commenting on the announcement, AEF’s Deputy Director, Cait Hewitt said:

“The Government’s decision to grant permission to London City Airport’s expansion plans will significantly increase the number of flights in a heavily populated area where noise and air pollution are already damaging people’s health and well-being. It is hard to see how an increase in aircraft and in passengers travelling to and from London City can be compatible with the Mayor’s ambitious plans to tackle air pollution in London.

“Meanwhile, the Government is continuing to approve growth of the aviation industry without a plan in place for tackling its climate change emissions.”   

http://www.aef.org.uk/2016/07/27/london-city-airport-expansion-approved/

Download

Statement submitted by Hacan East to planning inquiry

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£344 million London City Airport expansion hailed by Chancellor

Press release from: HM Treasury, Department for Transport, Department for Communities and Local Government, The Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP and others

 

In a major boost to improve passengers’ journeys and support British jobs and investment, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and Communities Secretary Sajid Javid have today (27 July 2016) announced the go-ahead for a brand new £344 million expansion programme at London City Airport.

The three ministers announced the approved plans for an extended terminal, new aircraft taxiway and parking spaces for planes in one of the capital’s fastest growing airports.

Set to improve passengers’ journeys, these new plans will increase connections within the UK and Europe and support business opportunities and investment.

London City Airport also estimates that the scheme will create 1,600 airport jobs for staff, together with 500 construction jobs, and could potentially contribute £1.5 billion to the UK economy by 2025.

There will be new space for planes to taxi to and from the runway, so more planes can use it, and new stands for planes to allow bigger, more modern planes to use the airport. This will mean more flights at peak times, with bigger, newer and, most importantly, quieter planes. An extended terminal will give the airport the space it needs to cope with the increase in passengers and services, bringing a better passenger experience.

London City Airport will also make a number of investments in transport links around the airport, including funding the cost of additional DLR rolling stock (£2.6 million), investing in a bus and taxi access scheme and improving walking and cycle routes to the airport.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond said:

London City Airport’s ambitious growth plans will boost international connections, strengthening the City of London’s links to destinations across the world, and send a clear signal that Britain is open for business. Making it easier to visit and do business in the City of London will help drive forward our economy and further strengthen the city’s status as the world’s leading financial centre.

This is a real vote of confidence in the resilience of our economy, creating over a thousand new jobs.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said:

This is fantastic news for London and Britain as a whole. I am determined to invest in the infrastructure this country needs, to help people get around more easily, boost investment and create opportunities.

London City Airport is an engine for growth in the City, serving the community in which it operates and providing a vital link to our regional airports and the rest of the country.

These new plans for London City Airport will deliver jobs and business in the capital and more widely. Companies across the UK will be able to bid for construction and procurement contracts worth £294 million, meaning the benefits will be felt up and down the country.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said:

This decision clearly indicates that Britain is open for business.

The expansion of both the airport and terminal building will provide a real boost to economic growth and job creation.

Commuters also stand to benefit from the expansion of the terminal and improved facilities which will make using the airport more pleasant and efficient.

The planning decision was formally approved by the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid.

A generous compensation package will be provided by the airport to support local residents affected by the increase in air traffic.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/344-million-london-city-airport-expansion-hailed-by-chancellor

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See earlier:

 

Changes brought in by NATS on February 4th means new noise ghettos in east London

On 4th February, NATS implemented the first phase of its LAMP (London Airspace Management Programme). It says this was approved by the CAA in November 2015. It means that routes into and out of London City airport will be altered, and routes will be concentrated – using PR-NAV (precision navigation). The changes involve use of a “point merge” system for arrivals, with the joining points to the ILS out at sea. They will mean all the planes from Westerly departures will be routed over for Bow, Leyton, Leytonstone, Wanstead, Redbridge, Barkingside, Collier Row and Harold Hill. For Easterly departures, all the planes will be routed over Barking Riverside, Dagenham, Elm park and Hornchurch. And for Easterly arrivals, all the planes will be routed over Bexley, Sidcup, New Eltham, Mottingham, Catford, Dulwich Village, Herne Hill, Brixton, Stockwell and Vauxhall. The changes are described by NATS in glowing terms – about “more efficient flights, saving fuel and reducing CO2 emissions, reducing noise, keeping aircraft higher for longer and minimising areas regularly overflown.” And, of course, enabling more flights to be crammed into crowded airspace – to enable the aviation industry to increase the number of flights. HACAN East is talking to its lawyers about a JR against the CAA for failure to consult.

Click here to view full story…

Decision on London City Airport expansion does not rest with Sadiq Khan, but with the Planning Inspector and Secretaries of State

Sadiq Khan, the new Mayor of London, in one of his very first acts, has instructed the Greater London Assembly’s GLA Land to withdraw its objection to London City Airport’s Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) of Royal Docks Land, following ‘new’ evidence supplied by the Airport. However, a final decision on the airport’s expansion is not in the Mayor’s hands. The decision rests with the Planning Inspector, who will make a recommendation to both Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin and Communities Secretary Greg Clark, following the main planning inquiry into expansion of City Airport that concluded on 5th April. A decision is not expected till the summer. The airport wants to CPO 26.4 hectares of GLA land to facilitate their CADP1 expansion programme which includes parts of the London Plan protected Blue Ribbon Network. of waterways and bodies of water. GLA Land was one of four remaining objectors to the expansion plans. However, its change of heart is not critical. The current Inquiry into the CPO has been adjourned until Tuesday 17 May as negotiations between the airport and the DLR continue, with agreement considered likely. The previous Mayor, Boris Johnson, refused permission for expansion on noise grounds.

Click here to view full story…

After just a few days as Mayor, Sadiq Khan drops GLA objection to compulsory purchase of land for London City Airport expansion

Within the first few days as London Mayor, Sadiq Khan has re-opened the possibility of expansion at London City Airport. He has dropped the GLA objection to a compulsory purchase order of 26.4 hectares in the Docklands, owned by City Hall. The airport will get the result of its recent appeal against refusal of expansion plans, by Boris Johnson, later this year. The GLA said: “The Mayor continues to support the case for improved noise mitigation measures that will be considered by the Secretary of State when he decides on the planning appeal in due course.” Khan had said in November 2015, during his election campaign, that he would look again at the prospect of the airport expanding. Boris had rejected it, on noise grounds. Meanwhile the owners of London City Airport paid themselves a £27.7m dividend payout last year after the airport attracted its highest ever number of passengers, increasing profits by almost 20%. The airport, while being considered to have the largest proportion of business passengers, in increasingly for leisure trips. London City’s higher customer numbers last year were in part driven by its new travel routes including Berne, Hamburg, Mykonos and Santorini (all just holiday destinations) and extra flights to Edinburgh, Luxenbourg, Geneva and Guernsey.

Click here to view full story…

and many other earlier news stories about London City Airport at

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