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Airport idea seeks clearance again
PLANS for a new international airport in South Wales have been resurrected five years after being grounded by the UK government.
Controversial plans for a runway and terminals in Llanwern, Newport, were halted when they failed to win government approval in 2003 – but the ambitious proposals for an airport to rival Cardiff International Airport have been resubmitted.
According to a Newport City Council report, there are newly submitted plans to site the airport on land reclaimed from the Severn Estuary, to the south-east of Redwick.
Its terminals would be to the north of the operational part of Llanwern Steelworks and southeast of Underwood in the Bishton and Wilcrick area.
According to the report: “This airport would not be a small facility as this would not justify the significant building costs, including land reclamation and surface transport links.
“A major facility would be likely to have significant economic effects.”
The plans have been submitted by Peter Charles-Greed, the company director behind plans for the airport which were rejected five years ago.
Newport council’s development and transport scrutiny forum is due to discuss the issue when it meets to talk about the city’s new Local Development Plan (LDP) on Wednesday.
Forum member Hugh Clark said he would not be in favour of the plans.
He said: “My biggest concern is the environmental impact it would have. This is at least the second time they’ve flown this idea. It’s been going on a number of years now.
“But as far as I’m concerned, there are already ample airports serving our area – I question the need for another and I have real concerns about the impact it would have on the environment.”
The airport would have to win the approval of the UK government if it was to go ahead but Newport’s LDP could choose to either support the idea, say it would not be welcome, or just note the proposals.
When initial plans for the £2bn facility were submitted to the government in January 2003, the project involved building runways on a man-made island in the Severn. Its backers hoped Severnside International Airport could open in 2010 and create 13,000 jobs.
But the plans nose-dived just 11 months later when the government released its Future of Air Transport white paper, which said Cardiff would remain the main South Wales airport.
According to the white paper, Severnside International Airport would “struggle to attract sufficient traffic to be financially viable”.
David Atwell, Newport council’s cabinet member for transport, believes the reasons for rejecting the airport back in 2003 are still valid today.
“Speaking personally, and not as the cabinet member, I think this airport is totally unnecessary.
“I was against it when it came up several years ago and I’m against it now,” he said.
“We already have two very useful airports near Newport, both international – Bristol and Cardiff. We don’t need another one.”
He said Newport’s roads would not be able to cope with the extra traffic the new airport would bring.
“We are struggling with our road systems here as it is,” he said. “We just haven’t got the infrastructure in place to deal with an airport.
“I’m all for improving employment opportunities but I just don’t think this is going to be good for our environment.”
Source
PLANS for a new international airport in South Wales have been resurrected five years after being grounded by the UK government.
Controversial plans for a runway and terminals in Llanwern, Newport, were halted when they failed to win government approval in 2003 – but the ambitious proposals for an airport to rival Cardiff International Airport have been resubmitted.
According to a Newport City Council report, there are newly submitted plans to site the airport on land reclaimed from the Severn Estuary, to the south-east of Redwick.
Its terminals would be to the north of the operational part of Llanwern Steelworks and southeast of Underwood in the Bishton and Wilcrick area.
According to the report: “This airport would not be a small facility as this would not justify the significant building costs, including land reclamation and surface transport links.
“A major facility would be likely to have significant economic effects.”
The plans have been submitted by Peter Charles-Greed, the company director behind plans for the airport which were rejected five years ago.
Newport council’s development and transport scrutiny forum is due to discuss the issue when it meets to talk about the city’s new Local Development Plan (LDP) on Wednesday.
Forum member Hugh Clark said he would not be in favour of the plans.
He said: “My biggest concern is the environmental impact it would have. This is at least the second time they’ve flown this idea. It’s been going on a number of years now.
“But as far as I’m concerned, there are already ample airports serving our area – I question the need for another and I have real concerns about the impact it would have on the environment.”
The airport would have to win the approval of the UK government if it was to go ahead but Newport’s LDP could choose to either support the idea, say it would not be welcome, or just note the proposals.
When initial plans for the £2bn facility were submitted to the government in January 2003, the project involved building runways on a man-made island in the Severn. Its backers hoped Severnside International Airport could open in 2010 and create 13,000 jobs.
But the plans nose-dived just 11 months later when the government released its Future of Air Transport white paper, which said Cardiff would remain the main South Wales airport.
According to the white paper, Severnside International Airport would “struggle to attract sufficient traffic to be financially viable”.
David Atwell, Newport council’s cabinet member for transport, believes the reasons for rejecting the airport back in 2003 are still valid today.
“Speaking personally, and not as the cabinet member, I think this airport is totally unnecessary.
“I was against it when it came up several years ago and I’m against it now,” he said.
“We already have two very useful airports near Newport, both international – Bristol and Cardiff. We don’t need another one.”
He said Newport’s roads would not be able to cope with the extra traffic the new airport would bring.
“We are struggling with our road systems here as it is,” he said. “We just haven’t got the infrastructure in place to deal with an airport.
“I’m all for improving employment opportunities but I just don’t think this is going to be good for our environment.”
Source
