Leeds Bradford Airport
Leeds City Council approves Leeds Bradford airport plans for new terminal (ie. more passengers, more carbon, more noise)
Leeds City Council has approved (subject to additional conditions still to be negotiated) Leeds Bradford Airport’s plans for a larger terminal to accommodate more passengers. This decision will entrench in the Leeds economy the growth of a carbon intensive industry. There is no certainty that the promised jobs will actually materialise, as the sector increasingly automates work. Objectors including climate scientists, transport experts and residents’ groups, warned such an expansion would help facilitate catastrophic climate change, as well as unbearable levels of noise pollution for those living close by. The application sought to demolish the existing passenger pier to accommodate a new terminal building and forecourt area. This would also include the construction of supporting infrastructure, goods yard and mechanical electrical plant. There are also plans to modify flight time controls, and to reduce the night-time flight period, with a likely increase from 5 to 17 flights between 6am and 7am. A professor of transport planning said there are inadequate contributions to road and rail infrastructure. Local group GALBA says there could still be a legal decision against the proposals.
Leeds Bradford Airport. Flights and CO2 emissions.
Analysis of flights, routes, and top 10 destinations from Leeds Bradford Airport in 2011. Also carbon emissions.
And passenger growth and numbers over the past 15 years. http://www.awsw.co.uk/allco2/LBA_co2.html
Terminal Passengers:
UK Airport Statistics: 2012 – annual (Table 10.3) Terminal Passengers 2002 – 2012
Air Transport Movements
UK Airport Statistics: 2012 – annual (Table 4.2) ATMs 2002 – 2012
Air Freight
UK Airport Statistics: 2012 – annual (Table 13.2) Freight 2002 – 2012
2006 22.6%
2007 21.9%
2008 20.1%
Business Aviation: Number of business flights (= private jets)
CAA statistics, annual figures – Table 3.1
Leeds Bradford Airport expansion plans approved
Planning application for terminal extension
Leeds Bradford Airport plan to expand their terminal building by two storeys.
This will cost an estimated £28m and will deliver the following facilities:-
- A larger passenger departure area
- A new baggage reclaim hall
- New immigration and security zones.
The effect of this will be that passenger numbers will go up from the current
2.6m per year to 5.1m in 2012 and 8.2m in 2030. This is a much bigger increase than the Government reccomended in its
Air Transport White Paper (they said up to 7m by 2030).
We think the council need to deny Leeds Bradford Airport’s application for planning
permission. Why? Because it will increase noise, put a strain on the transport
network and hugely increase the region’s carbon emissions.
As well as that, we have issues with the public consultation which was undertaken
as part of the proposal. It was poorly publicised and concentrated on the airport’s
direct neighbours in Guiseley, Yeadon and Horsforth. There were roughly 300 attendees
and 126 respondants to the questionnaire. There was no reference to the environment,
transport or noise. Instead people were asked about the ‘need to improve’ the
airport.
For more info, you can check out: LBIA Masterplan
Yorkshire Post’s article on the expansion