Re: Infrastructure Developments
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Planners to give verdict on £28m LBA scheme
Leeds Bradford Airport’s £28 million expansion plans are to go before councillors in Leeds today.
The scheme to build a two-storey extension to the terminal building is being recommended for approval at a meeting of the Leeds West plans panel.
But that approval, which is expected to be deferred and delegated to the chief planning officer, will be dependant on a number of conditions, including a substantial financial contribution from the airport to help imp-rove transport networks.
Any agreement would be dependant on the setting up of a transport steering group which would review the scheme’s impact on transport networks and which would oversee the phased financial package of up to £1m.
Under the proposed agreement the airport would contribute up to £228,000 per year to support bus links with Leeds Bradford and Harrogate. This figure would be reviewed when LBIA reached 5,000,000 passengers per annum.
It is also being asked to pay £75,000 for bus services and highway measures before the first use of its terminal building.
It will also be asked to make a financial contribution of £425,000 for bus services and highway measures once it reaches 3,800,000 passengers per annum.
Among many other conditions will be the stipulation that a contribution of £50,000 be made to reinstate the bus service between the airport and York.
LBIA is planning a massive improvement of its facilities to cater for an increasing number of passengers.
But officials are stressing that expansion plans will be confined within its existing boundaries.
The £28m scheme, and the prospect of a massive increase in passenger numbers have drawn strong opposition from many quarters – as well as support from others.
The scheme went before planners in April but was deferred after members asked officers to hold further discussions with the airport.
At today’s meeting members will be told that the proposals have prompted an unprecedented number of letters.
Among those expressing concerns are Friends of the Earth.
They are arguing that the airport should have had a strategy in place for effective and sustainable transport solutions to the effects of the proposed growth before submitting an application.
And they are calling on planners not to approve the scheme until they are satisfied with the airport’s surface access strategy.
Aireborough Civic Society has voiced concerns about the increasing number of light aircraft and is asking for conditions to be put in place to limit their environmental impact on the area. Planners have also received more than 2,740 letters from local residents about the plans – with 438 of those in support of the scheme.
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"But that approval, which is expected to be deferred and delegated to the chief planning officer"
I thought that this was already the case. Please, not more delay. The council has totally lost the plot with this application.
As White Heather has already pointed out here before, 2,740 letters with only 438 in support of the application does sound overwhelming, but each and every 2,800,000 million passengers passing through the airport terminal each year surely represents a vote with their feet!
It's bugging me that we keep seeing various press reports comparing the terminal extension with expansion at airports like London Heathrow and London Stansted, yet work on our little terminal extension is absolutely essential.
Last of all with passengers at Manchester currently standing at around the 29million mark, there's room for well over 10million more Leeds City Region passengers should the Leeds planners fail to approve this expansion today.
