Farmer taking Carlisle Airport fight to appeal court

Date added: 27 October, 2009

27.10.2009 (News & Star)

By Thom Kennedy

A farmer hoping to scupper plans for a passenger airport on the edge of Carlisle
is to take his fight to the Court of Appeal.

Irthington man Gordon Brown objected to the city council’s 2008 decision to grant
planning consent to Stobart Group for warehousing and offices, claiming there
had been no adequate environmental impact assessment, but last week had his case
thrown out by a High Court judge.

Now, Mr Brown intends to seek leave to take the case to the court of appeal.

Paul Finch, partner and head of planning at Newcastle law firm Dickinson Dees,
is representing Mr Brown’s legal challenge.

He said: "The first judge who issued a written decision on the papers got it
horribly wrong, and the latest judge has agreed with that, and that a proper environmental
assessment on the whole thing should have been done, but disagreed that it should
go to trial.

"Whether it’s allowed to go to the next stage depends on one straightforward
issue – whether the judge was right in the last hearing not to let it go forward.  
He didn’t think it would succeed and I think he has got that wrong.   As long as
there is an arguable case, it should be heard."

Mr Finch added that he anticipated a decision on whether an appeal could go ahead
would take place relatively quickly, depending on when judges are available.

The Stobart Group which is hoping to build the £25million terminal has said that
work on the redevelopment could start ‘very soon’, with the exact date depending
on funding and weather.

link to article

Posted: Tuesday, October 27th, 2009. Filed in News about Airports.