As Bristol Airport sits within North Somerset all of their planning applications are considered by North Somerset Council. It was on 10 February last year that the Councils planning committee voted by 18 to 7 to reject the airports application to expand.
I was at the meeting when the application was thrown out and spoke against the expansion, not only was I worried about the impact on local residents but also conscious that less than year after declaring a climate emergency it would have been strange to have approved the airport to expand by over two million passengers a year.
Council officers had worked for many months on the application and had actually recommended that Councillors vote to approve the application. It perhaps then not surprising that Bristol Airport has decided to appeal the decision. This time though the appeal will not be heard by North Somerset Council, instead there will be a four-week public inquiry which will start in July this year.
The Council though is preparing a defence. The Leader of the council, Don Davies, has said “a team of specialist consultants has been assembled to mount a robust defence of the council’s decision and a senior QC has already been appointed to lead the case.”
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