Appeal Court rejects application by BAAN to appeal against Bristol…
In January the High Court ruled that the airport’s major expansion plans could go ahead following a lengthy legal battle, but local group Bristol Airport Action Network appealed against the decision. Now that appeal has been “refused on all grounds”. by the Court of Appeal. A ruling found that there was not “real prospect of success” of the challenge and no other compelling reason for to allow it. The airport plans to expand its maximum capacity from 10m to 12m passengers a year, had initially been refused planning permission by North Somerset Council in January 2020. The airport’s owner Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan later appealed to the Government, and the decision was overturned by the Planning Inspectorate in February 2022. BAAN has been fighting ever since, and commented that “The airport can now expand by an extra 2 million passengers a year, build a multi-storey car park on Greenbelt land, massively increase the number of summer night flights and congest the local roads with an extra 10,000 cars a day.” As well as hugely increase its carbon emissions. BAAN says “the planning system concerning airport expansion has been rigged by the government to ignore the climate crisis.” .Tweet Anti-airport expansion group in Bristol loses appeal 18.5.2023 (BBC) By Sammy Jenkins & Clara Bullock Campaigners have lost their appeal to stop Bristol Airport from expanding. The airport plans to increase capacity from 10 to 12 million passengers a year and enhance its facilities. Bristol Airport Action Network (BAAN) said it was disappointed by the decision from the Court of Appeal in this time of a climate crisis. Bristol Airport welcomed the court’s decision to uphold the planning permission and said its plans will create thousands of new jobs. In January, the High Court ruled that the airport’s expansion plans could go ahead following a lengthy legal battle, but BAAN appealed against this decision. ‘Refused on all grounds’ Now Bristol Airport has announced that the appeal had been “refused on all grounds”. The ruling found that there was no “real prospect of success and no other compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to entertain an appeal”. A spokesperson for the airport said: “We will now take forward our multi-million-pound plans for net zero operations by 2030 and look forward to working with stakeholders and the community to deliver responsible growth.” Steve Clarke, from Bristol Airport Action Network, said: “I’m not really surprised by this decision, but I am angry and disappointed.” He added: “Bristol Airport pretend to be concerned about local stakeholders and the climate, but nothing could be clearer from this process that they don’t give a damn about either. “They must understand though that we are not going away – we will be energised by this ridiculous decision.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-65637047 . Comments from an AirportWatch members: Condolences to BAAN. Sadly, the outcome is all too familiar. The Courts’ hands are tied by government policy, regardless of the fact that the policy is illogical, incoherent and based on mythical claims of thousands of new jobs and economic benefits for the UK. Eventually, the truth will out. …. What should really be called out is the sheer hypocrisy of the airport claiming they can now get on with their “multi million pound plan for Net Zero”. As if they were only doing it to make the airport net zero. If they are that serious about it, the challenge should be that they, by all means, proceed with that plan but also state upfront that the airport refuses to take any additional flights because of the destructive impact of planes on the environment. We could say if they did that, we would not just withdraw opposition but endorse their plans. Think they’ll take that offe
