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.
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DECISION OVER FUTURE OF LONDON CITY AIRPORT DOES NOT REST WITH SADIQ KHAN
May 11th 2016
HACAN East press release
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Sadiq Khan, the new Mayor of London, in one of his very first acts, has instructed 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 expansion is not in his hands but those of 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.
London City Airport wish to compulsorily purchase 26.4 hectares of GLA land to facilitate their CADP1 expansion programme which includes parts of the London Plan protected Blue Ribbon Network. [The Blue Ribbon Network (BRN) is London’s strategic network of waterspaces (see Map 7.5) and covers the River Thames, canals, tributary rivers, lakes, reservoirs and docks alongside smaller waterbodies].
GLA Land was one of four remaining objectors alongside the DLR, who were objecting for reasons that included the unacceptable risk to passengers, and HACAN East the community group that represents residents under the flight path.
The current Inquiry, about the CPO, has been adjourned until Tuesday 17 May as negotiations between the Airport and the DLR continue, with agreement deemed highly likely. HACAN East will remain as non-statutory objectors and will present their evidence next week, as well as the Deputy Leader of Waltham Forest Council, Cllr. Clyde Loakes and John Cryer, MP for Leyton & Wanstead.
This CPO Inquiry follows the previous inquiry which ended on 5 April into the previous Mayor of London’s decision to refuse expansion of City Airport on noise grounds. The Planning Inspector will now make a recommendation to both Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin and Communities Secretary Greg Clark.
Robert Barnstone, Campaign coordinator for HACAN East, said: “Advocates of expansion at City Airport should get less, not more excited at this stage as this changes nothing. City Airport’s new PR team are claiming this is a bigger victory for them when in reality we will know the outcome of the main planning inquiry later this summer, once the Planning Inspector has reported to the relevant Secretaries of State. Nothing has changed.”
For more information
Rob Barnstone: robert.barnstone@outlook.com; 07806 947050
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Earlier:
At London City Airport Inquiry, HACAN East calls for noise insulation to match the best in Europe
HACAN East, the resident-led group opposing expansion of London City Airport called for insulation offered by City Airport to match the best in Europe. The call came during the opening week of the Public Inquiry into the airport’s expansion plans. John Stewart, Chair of HACAN East, said: “If expansion goes ahead the number of people overflown by City Airport planes will be higher than that of any airport in the UK, other than Heathrow and Manchester. Airports like Frankfurt or Charles de Gaulle in Paris are twice as generous with the insulation schemes offered to residents as London City.” City Airport wants to enlarge its infrastructure to allow use by larger aircraft. Newham Council gave permission for the airport to expand in February 2015, but this was overturned by Boris Johnson on noise grounds the following month. The airport appealed against his decision. The result is this public inquiry. Lawyers for the Mayor argued in the opening week of the Inquiry that City Airport should compensate more people than it is prepared to do, if its expansion is allowed. HACAN East said they are concerned about the residents and communities outside the 57LAeq 16hr contour. Many of these people experience significant aircraft noise, but there is nothing in the airport’s application to deal with those impacts
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London City Airport appeal on expansion starts 15th March – blog by Alan on why Hacan East are fighting for the local communities
Newham Council granted planning approval in February for London City Airport’s plans for expansion, allowing an increase in the number of flights from 70,000 per year to 111,000 and almost double the number of passengers, up to 6 million a year by 2023. In March 2015 Boris Johnson refused the plans, on noise grounds. The airport appealed, and the hearing starts on 15th March. Alan Haughton, from the local campaign group Hacan East will be speaking at the appeal, against the airport’s plans, representing the interests of the local community. Alan has worked for many years, to oppose the high handed manner in which the airport (owned till very recently by GIP, as a means to make quick, huge, profit) rides roughshod over the interests of local people. In a blog, Alan explains why he and Hacan East have worked so hard, unpaid, to give their community a voice. Alan says: “What we see happening at London City Airport is happening across London. Developers and businesses, working closely with Local Councils, are forcing their will on Communities for profit. … We attend the Planning Enquiry with no QC, no legal representation, no ‘experts’. We can’t afford those. … For me though, it’s about justice, about community, about local residents and community groups standing together to defend our local environment.”