Lydd Airport: Legal challenge to expansion plans at High Court on 23rd and 24th January 2014

A legal challenge to the government’s decision to allow the expansion of Lydd Airport in Kent is to be heard at the High Court on on 23rd and 24th January. The £25m project includes a runway extension of almost 300m (328yds) and a new terminal building. The airport site is close to the Dungeness nuclear plant, an RSPB nature reserve and a military range. The RSPB and Lydd Airport Action Group (LAAG) have lodged separate appeals against the expansion. After several years going through the planning process, the airport got planning permission in April 2013.  LAAG has said the expansion would damage “the unique natural habitats on Romney Marsh and urbanise this important rural area”. LAAG also fear that the introduction of heavy aircraft such as the Boeing 737s “raised the probability of an aircraft accident at the Dungeness nuclear power complex leading to a serious radiological release to unacceptably high levels”.  The RSPB said Dungeness was “one of the most important wildlife sites in the world and protected at global, European and UK levels”.
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14 January 2014 (BBC)

Lydd Airport: Legal challenge to expansion plans

Lydd Airport terminal design
Lydd Airport bosses want the airport to take up to 500,000 passengers a year

A legal challenge to the government’s decision to allow the expansion of Lydd Airport in Kent is to be heard at the High Court later this month.

The £25m project includes a runway extension of almost 300m (328yds) and a new terminal building.

Campaigners are opposed to the expansion as the site is close to the Dungeness nuclear plant, an RSPB nature reserve and a military range.

The RSPB and Lydd Airport Action Group (LAAG) have lodged separate appeals.

LAAG’s bid to quash the decision will be heard at the High Court on 23 and 24 January.

Tourism boost

The airport, also known as London Ashford Airport, was given permission to expand last April

Its new terminal would be capable of handling up to 500,000 passengers a year.

Officials said the plans would create jobs, boost tourism and revive a long-standing economic blackspot as well as provide much-needed additional airport capacity in the south-east of England.

LAAG has said the expansion would damage “the unique natural habitats on Romney Marsh and urbanise this important rural area”.

It claims the introduction of heavy aircraft such as the Boeing 737s also “raised the probability of an aircraft accident at the Dungeness nuclear power complex leading to a serious radiological release to unacceptably high levels”.

The RSPB said Dungeness was “one of the most important wildlife sites in the world and protected at global, European and UK levels”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-25729794

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Related BBC Stories on Lydd airport


 

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High Court Hearing to Quash Lydd Airport Decision Imminent

14.1.2014 (LAAG)
Lydd Airport Action Group’s (LAAG’s) High Court Appeal to quash the government’s decision to grant LyddAirport permission to extend its runway and build a new terminal to support 500,000 passengers per annum will be heard on Thursday January 23rd and Friday January 24th, 2014. The RSPB is also appealing separately and their hearing will be held on the previous two days.

The decision to approve the development was made on April 10th, 2013 by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and the Secretary of State for Transport.

The Hearing will be at the Royal Courts of Justice and is open to the public.

LAAG is represented by Matthew Horton QC.

www.lyddairportaction.co.uk

Notes to editors:

· Lydd Airport is owned by Sheikh Fahad al-Athel, a Saudi businessman.

· Lydd Airport submitted a planning application in December 2006 to both extend the runway at Lydd by 444metres and build a new terminal to accommodate up to 500,000 passengers per annum (ppa.). This is Phase 1 of a longer term plan to increases passenger numbers to 2mpppa.

The airport was unlawfully granted planning permission by Shepway District Council on March 3, 2010. Following over 14,000 letters in protest, the Secretary of State called in the decision for review by a Public Inquiry in June 2010. The public inquiry was conducted from February 15th, 2011 to September 16th, 2011. LAAG’s case centred heavily on the nuclear safety issue. Our evidence shows that the probability of an aircraft accident at the Dungeness Nuclear complex resulting from airport expansion would be unacceptably high and that the nuclear regulator’s decision not to oppose LyddAirport’s development was flawed.

During 2012 four additional consultations took place to review new evidence on nuclear safety. This added to the body of material already available which showed: the model on which the ONR based its decision is not fit for purpose, particularly when applied to the complex operating environment at Lydd, there are major errors in the application of this model to the Lydd Airport/Dungeness situation and that the ONR has failed to be accountable in the face of the challenge to the basis of its regulatory decision.

· A formal complaint to the European Commission over the nuclear safety aspects of this planning application has resulted in the European Commission investigating the UK Government under the EU Pilot Mechanism for possible infringements of the Nuclear Safety Directive. The investigation is on-going.

LAAG is an action group formed in 2004 to oppose the large scale development of Lydd airport. LAAG has ~3000 members.

www.lyddairportaction.co.uk 

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Legal challenge to airport expansion to be heard next week

Comment by MEP Keith Taylor: 

The airport, also known as London Ashford Airport, is said to be under one of the largest migratory bird routes in the south of England, with fears that its growth could lead to more bird strikes.

The decision to approve the development was made on April 10th, 2013 by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and the Secretary of State for Transport.

The Hearing will be at the Royal Courts of Justice and is open to the public.

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East, said:

“Any expansion of Lydd airport, in an area of global importance for wildlife and next door to a nuclear power station, is clearly bad news.

The Government is hell-bent on airport expansion but local people, whose lives will be blighted by increased pollution and noise, are right to stand up against these plans.

We know that airport expansions will contribute to climate change, and we know that a larger airport at Lydd will threaten both the wildlife in the area and the peace and quiet enjoyed by local people.

Lydd airport expansion shouldn’t go ahead and I wish campaigners the best of luck in their legal challenge to the Government’s ideological obsession with expanding airports at any cost.

http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2014/01/14/legal-challenge-to-airport-expansion-to-be-heard-next-week/?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_campaign=hootsuite

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  • Earlier:

Lydd Airport expansion plans to be shown off at Dubai Airport Show and other international shows

May 7, 2013    The owners of Lydd Airport, Lydd Holdings, is exhibiting the plans for their 294 metre runway extension, plus a 150-metre starter extension and an new terminal building, in Dubai. There is the Dubai Airport Show taking place, and Lydd Holdings are showing off their plans to delegates from some 200 companies from 32 countries. Lydd Holidngs is to invest £25million into the development, and has already spent £35m upgrading the site over the last year including installing a new executive terminal with VIP facilities, improved passenger check-in and security and a new departure lounge. They will be promoting the airport at other international aviation shows this year, including the EBACE (European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition), later in May. Currently the airport has begun to work on the pre-development conditions, which include things like carrying out baseline biodiversity surveys (water voles, bats, lizards, grass snakes etc), and a Carbon Management Action Plan for the ground operational vehicles etc. The airport may not start the terminal until the runway extension is started.   Click here to view full story…

Lydd airport: will it find enough passenger demand, or is its business plan nonsensical?

April 25, 2013    Gwyn Topham, in the Guardian, speculates on whether the government granting planning permission to Lydd airport is an indication to their thinking on airport expansion in general. The decision came relatively soon after publication of the aviation policy framework in March which reiterated the idea of growth elsewhere to take pressure off London’s main airports. And it may be connected to Osborne’s budget talking up infrastructure and its impact on the economy. Approval has been given for up to 500,000 passengers a year, though Lydd will struggle to get anywhere near that. They hope to eventually be able to use the railway track that carries nuclear waste from Dungeness to link passengers to Ashford’s high-speed train – a 37-minute journey to London, albeit expensive. Though Lydd would like to get easyJet, as Southend has, but it is more likely to expand the executive jet service. And they hope when Gatwick is full and wants more A380, it will kick out the smaller planes, which will then find Lydd useful. That will take a while … and currently the lack of demand makes the Lydd business plan nonsensical.     Click here to view full story…

Lydd airport expansion: planning advice is ignored over building near nuclear sites

April 14, 2013     Writing in the Observer, Jamie Doward points out that Ministers have chosen to ignore warnings that residential and commercial property should not be built too close to the UK’s nuclear power plants. Documents released under FoI show that the government rejected advice from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), regarding the lessons to be learned following the Fukushima disaster. The ONR recommended restricting development near nuclear plants, advice that was overridden last week when the government approved the expansion of Lydd. A legal challenge is already underway against this decision. Lydd Airport Action Group (LAAG) did not wait for the decision by Ministers, as they had anticipated the worst and worked on a case last year. The European Commission accepted the case and has already started infringement proceedings under the pilot mechanism. Environmental NGOs have condemned the government decision to expand Lydd saying any benefits from the airport would be far outweighed by the environmental damage to the area, and expansion would irreversibly damage specially protected areas nearby.     Click here to view full story…

 

 

Lydd Airport expansion plans given government approval

April 10, 2013      Plans to expand Lydd airport have been approved by the government following a pubic inquiry. This tiny airport, on Dungensss and close to a nuclear power station, has ambitions to handle half a million passengers per year, and wants an extended runway and a new airport terminal. Shepway District Council gave permission for the expansion in 2010 but the application was called for a public inquiry. Now both Secretaries of State for Communities and Local Government (Pickles) and for Transport (McLoughlin) have approved the development – subject to environmental, noise and traffic conditions. The safety issue of an airport so close to a nuclear facility have not been examined fully or properly at the inquiry. The main opposition group, the Lydd Airport Action Group (LAAG) has fought tenaciously on the nuclear issue for years, and the European Commission has already started infringement proceedings under the pilot mechanism relating to the Nuclear Safety Directive. The government is also liable to legal challenge due to infringements of the EU Habitats Directive.      Click here to view full story…

 

UK government risks infringing nuclear safety legislation over Lydd Airport

March 25, 2013     Lydd Airport submitted a planning application in December 2006 for a 444 metre extension to its runway and a new terminal to increase its passenger numbers from below 3,000 in 2005 to 500,000 passengers per annum. It ultimately wants the number to rise to 2 million per year. The planning application was taken to public inquiry in 2011, and since then, a decision has been awaited, from Eric Pickles, Minister at DCLG. However, the issue of the proximity of Lydd airport to the Dungeness nuclear power station has always been a serious problem. The Lydd Area Action Group (LAAG) has challenged the manner in which the nuclear issue has been handled by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). Now LAAG say that should the government approve the development of Lydd Airport without holding the ONR to account on a range of matters and satisfactorily answering the questions put to it by the European Commission, it ultimately faces the possibility of the case being referred to the European Court of Justice.    Click here to view full story…

 

Lydd Airport: Wind turbines, a new airport and an atomic plant threaten historic wetlands

March 24, 2013       Observer article by Jamie Doward.

A decision on whether to allow major expansion of Lydd airport, less than three miles from the Dungeness nuclear power station, may be imminent. It has been delayed for years. The decision will be made by the Sec of State, Eric Pickles. However, there are many issues that make allowing Lydd airport, which is owned by an Arab sheikh, to expand very problematic. First there is the issue of the nuclear power station at Dungeness B, the operators of which (EDF) opposed the application. Many local residents are also opposed to more local wind farms. The battle over the future of Romney Marsh offers a snapshot of the dilemmas facing a government struggling to reconcile job-friendly “grand projects” with commitments to reduce carbon emissions and preserve the integrity of the countryside. Click here to view full story…

 

Lydd Airport: Nuclear regulator forced to review aircraft crash risk

July 25, 2012    The nuclear regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, acknowledges that if a large aircraft were to accidentally crash onto the Dungeness nuclear site it has the potential to cause its most severe ‘Target 9′ accident, killing more than 100 people. Over the last 5 years its rationale for not objecting to the proposed expansion of nearby Lydd Airport is an assertion that the probability of such an accident is low enough to be ignored. This is despite the development introducing larger, heavier planes than the small aircraft which operate from Lydd today. Finally, the ONR now admits that it may have “got it wrong”. As a result it has decided to set up a technical advisory panel to take a grass roots review of the model as well as consider a proposal to introduce a minimum separation policy as the only robust way of managing this large scale accident risk.   Click here to view full story…

 

New report shows the UK nuclear regulator was wrong in not opposing Lydd Airport’s planning application

April 24, 2012    A decision on whether to allow expansion of Lydd airport was due in March 2012 from Eric Pickles, but this has been delayed for an unknown length of time. Meanwhile, the Lydd Airport Action Group has commissioned a new report from a doctor at Imperial College that shows the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) was wrong to conclude that the probability of an accident at Dungeness resulting from the introduction of heavy aircraft taking off and landing from Lydd Airport would be so low that it could be ignored. The Imperial College study showed that Dungeness A, which ceased power generation in 2006, would still be a risk if hit by a plane. Dungeness B, which is still working, would be a safety risk, being only 3 miles from the airport, and built before any consideration was given to the risk of a hit by a heavy aircraft.   Click here to view full story…

Anger that Inspector’s decision on Lydd airport will not be publicised yet

March 8, 2012     Government inspector Ken Barton chaired the 7-month inquiry into Lydd Airport’s expansion plans in 2011. This probably cost the tax payer up to £250,000. The decision has to be made by 14th March. However, it has been announced that this will not be made public until after ministers Eric Pickles and Justine Greening have made their decision. And there is no deadline by which they have to do so. There is speculation that they may not decide until next year, perhaps because the national aviation policy consultation starts by the end of this month, and this will have a bearing on whether expansion on Lydd is acceptable. There is local anger and frustration that the decision is being kept secret.    Click here to view full story…

Lydd Airport. Project runway: carving up the Kent marshes

Decision by Eric Pickles due in March

February 26, 2012    In a long and comprehensive article in the Observer Magazine, Jamie Doward looks at the issues involved in proposed expansion of Lydd airport, to take up to 2 million passengers – a massive growth from its current, sleepy state with around 1,000 passenger per year. The area is of immense wildlife value, being a NNR, SSSI, SPA and SAC. A decision by government is due in about a fortnight. The article says: ” If Pickles approves the airport’s expansion he will be going against the government’s adviser, Natural England, Shepway’s planning officers, the majority of Lydd’s residents, the scientific consensus on the need to reduce carbon emissions, the prime minister’s perceived green credentials and the coalition’s belief in empowering communities as enshrined in its much-vaunted localism act.” If government does approve it, “The whole character of the place would change because, as studies show, airports lead to urbanisation.”    Click here to view full story…

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and there is more Lydd Airport news going back even further at  

Lydd Airport News

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