Southampton City Council objects to latest plans by Southampton airport – Eastleigh BC to consider on 17th December
Southampton City Council has objected to revised plans to expand the runway at Southampton airport by 164 metres (538 ft), in order to increase the number of flights and size of planes. The council voted to oppose the scheme on the grounds of climate change and noise levels. The city council had previously voted to oppose the airport’s original plans in January. The airport was asked to amend the proposals and Southampton council was asked to confirm its position before a final decision is taken by councillors in Eastleigh – where the airport is located. The latest plans have a few small noise modifications. Lyn Bryshaw, from the Airport Expansion Opposition group told the online council meeting the development would “cause huge harm to the environment and local people …The economic benefits for Southampton and the region have been overstated and no evidence at all has been presented to suggest that the airport would go out of business without the extension.” A decision on planning permission is due to be made on 17 December, by Eastleigh Borough Council.
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Southampton Airport expansion: City council objects to latest plans
Southampton City Council has objected to revised plans to expand the runway at the city’s airport.
The airport wants to to lengthen the runway by 164m (538ft) to increase the number of flights and allow the use of larger planes.
The council voted to oppose the scheme on the grounds of climate change and noise levels.
The Business South group told the meeting the extension was “essential for the future”.
The city council had previously voted to oppose the airport’s original plans in January.
Southampton Airport has since amended the proposals and the city council was asked to confirm its position before a final decision is taken by councillors in Eastleigh – where the airport is located.
The latest plans allow the local authority to set a maximum cap on the noise level and would give affected residents grants for insulation, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
‘Huge harm’
Managing director at Southampton Airport Steve Szalay previously said the airport’s future would be in doubt if it was not allowed to extend the runway to accommodate planes such as the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737.
Passenger numbers at the airport have fallen by 89% this year.
Lyn Bryshaw, from the Airport Expansion Opposition group https://axosouthampton.wordpress.com/ told the online council meeting the development would “cause huge harm to the environment and local people”
“The economic benefits for Southampton and the region have been overstated and no evidence at all has been presented to suggest that the airport would go out of business without the extension.”
Tim Hancock, chair of Business South, said: “The business community supports the Southampton Airport runway application.
“The certainty of the planning permission is essential for the future.”
Leader of the opposition Conservative group Dan Fitzhenry said the expansion was “crucial” for the local economy.
Lisa Mitchell, chair of the planning and rights of way panel said she was “not satisfied” with the efforts to limit the impact on climate change and noise levels.
A decision on planning permission is due to be made on 17 December, by Eastleigh Council.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-55160011
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Southampton Airport extended runway plans to be debated on 17th December
Plans to expand Southampton Airport runway will be considered by Eastleigh Council on 17th December. The airport wants to extend its runway by 164m (538ft) and extend the existing long stay car park to provide an additional 600 spaces. The proposals will be scrutinised at a special meeting of the Eastleigh Local Area Committee. The airport has recently submitted more details of the plans to the council. These include the possibility for the authority to propose a maximum noise cap on the airport. Local opposition group Airport Expansion Opposition (AXO) continue to campaign against the plans. As well as the carbon emissions, they fear that new government policy could mean that there would be no noise cap in the future. The airport claims the longer runway is necessary, to keep airport staff employed, as the longer runway would allow larger Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 planes, for holiday destinations in southern Europe. The airport hopes the extended runway could be ready by 2022. The public consultation will close on November 15. Nearby Winchester Council has said it is still likely to object to the plans, and the recently updated information do not overcome their concerns about the noise impact.
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Protest by opponents of Southampton airport, against the “madness” of its expansion plans
Opponents of expansion of Southampton airport took part in a protest on Saturday 29th, as did many other groups at airports across the UK. The group say the airport should not be expanding, at a time of climate crisis, and the impact would be a needless increase in carbon emissions, from the extra flights using the airport. They said 1. The economic case does not stack up, in jobs, house prices or health impacts. 2. The noise impacts of expansion, with many more local people negatively affected. 3. More air pollution will affect local health and mortality rates, from an increase (the airport’s own figures) of 272% in NOx emissions. 4. No figures have been provided for ultrafine particles, which could be even worse than NOx for human health. 5. The expansion will contribute to climate change and a ‘carbon-neutral’ airport is a myth; the expansion would roughly double current carbon emissions, and the airport is only looking to offset the relatively small ground emissions, not those from flights.