Airport Runway Safety Project gets green light

Published in Gloucester Citizen Newspaper on Fri 12th Dec 2008

Controversial plans to extend the runway at Gloucestershire Airport have been given the thumbs up.

Last week members of Gloucester City Council overview and scrutiny committee recommended the plans be approved and land handed over to the airport to extend the runway safety area.

On Wednesday, Gloucester City Council cabinet members approved the report for recommendation to full council on January 15.

If the full council also supports the extension, a number of conditions will be imposed, including restrictions on operating times, carbon emissions and flight movements. Cheltenham Borough Council has already supported the plans.

The airport will also be instructed to carry on negotiations with parties potentially interested in buying it.

Airport directors and supporters say the 30-metre extension is critical if they are to meet safety regulations and enable profitable commercial flights to continue. But there has been much opposition to the scheme from protesters who say expansion will lead to increased flight numbers and more noise and air pollution.

Speaking after the meeting, Liberal Democrat group leader, Coun Jeremy Hilton, vice-chairman of the Airport Board, said: "If we were to see the airport disappear, what we would see in its place would be a town between Cheltenham and Gloucester. We're not going to have green fields, it's going to be built on."

Gloucester City Council leader, Coun Paul James: "There are a lot of sensitivities around the environmental aspect of the project, and the impact of people living close to the airport and I readily acknowledge those."

Darren Lewington, head of operations at the airport, said: "We need to maximise the use of the site by business and corporate traffic - that is currently restricted by the limitations of our runway." A planning application