Airport Master Plan for next 30 Years - Consultation

[TheLocalYokel]

I was perusing the North Somerset Council planning website earlier re the BRS planning application which is awaiting determination. I sampled a selection of the objections at random to try to get a feel of the objectors' mood.

Most of the objections, unsurprisingly, concerned climate change, noise and road traffic disturbance, although one of the objections I sampled said she lived under the airport flight path (a south Bristol address was given) which disrupted her health, whereas her address is actually several miles from the flight path.

A Bath residents group thought the airport's current planning cap of 10 mppa was high enough, although the group did think that any expansion consideration should wait until that level has been reached. Probably not very practical from an airport business planning perspective.

The British Airline Pilots' Airline's (BALPA) response was interesting. It was listed as an objection, with BALPA concerned about parking provision for its members and the issue of new parking spreading into the Green Belt. Through the year there has been correspondence between BALPA, the local authority and Bristol Airport (the corresondence documents are available on the North Somerset planning website) but as of last month BALPA still does not seem satisfied.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

A date has been set at last for North Somerset Council's determination of BRS's planning application to enable it to handle 12 mppa. The specially arranged hearing will take place at Weston-super-Mare at 1800 hours on Monday 10 February.

Of the three other local authorities in the Greater Bristol area, Bath & North East Somerset Council has formally opposed the expansion whilst Bristol City and South Gloucestershire councils are in favour of expansion but believe that major improvements in public transport access will be required.

Bristol Airport: Date set for decision on expansion plan

It will be at Weston-super-Mare's Town Hall and will take place at 6pm

www.bristolpost.co.uk

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Stansted Airport had its application to increase its annual passenger cap rejected by its local authority this week, despite recommendations to approve it by council planning officers. It seems it was a similar scenario to the BRS local authority (N Somerset), with a majority of independent councillors and others less enthusiastic about airports elected in last May's local elections.

STN is still 7 mppa away from its current planning cap unlike BRS that is just over 1 mppa away from its own cap.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

A date has been set at last for North Somerset Council's determination of BRS's planning application to enable it to handle 12 mppa. The specially arranged hearing will take place at Weston-super-Mare at 1800 hours on Monday 10 February.

Of the three other local authorities in the Greater Bristol area, Bath & North East Somerset Council has formally opposed the expansion whilst Bristol City and South Gloucestershire councils are in favour of expansion but believe that major improvements in public transport access will be required.

Bristol Airport: Date set for decision on expansion plan

It will be at Weston-super-Mare's Town Hall and will take place at 6pm

www.bristolpost.co.uk

According to the website of one North Somerset Unitary Authority councillor the North Somerset planning officers' report and (and probable recommendations - my italics) will be published next week.

Although the elected councillors on the planning committee don't have to follow their officers' recomendations their (the officers') views could be very important in the event of a council rejection and a subsequent airport appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

If the council officers recommend a refusal it might be more difficult to persuade a Planning Inspectorate inspector that rejection was unjustified. Elected councillors sometimes vote with their heart rather than their head and some are under immense pressure from constituents. Council planning officers, as with Planning Inspectorate inspectors, are professionals and will usually have a better grasp of planning regulations, the law and any government guidance.

 

[Red Flyer]

The professional planning officers report is now on the NSC website. They recommend that it is approved.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The professional planning officers report is now on the NSC website. They recommend that it is approved.

That's excellent news because even if the elected councillors reject the application - as you know it's not unknown for elected councillors on planning committees to go against their professional officers' advice - any appeal the airport might make to the Planning Inspectorate will be strengthened hugely.

If the councillors do reject the application they must find convincing reasons otherwise the council might find itself with a large legal bill if the airport successfully appealed to the Planning Inspectorate.

Bristol Airport expansion recommended for approval

It comes after 5,400 objections and 2,200 letters of support

www.bristolpost.co.uk

 

[superking]

They just had a report on local bbc news about the airport planning.

 

[tpm]

Also, it looks like it will have to be referred to the Secretary of State anyway (in case of approval), so in a way councillors can pass the buck.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Also, it looks like it will have to be referred to the Secretary of State anyway (in case of approval), so in a way councillors can pass the buck.

I think the secretary of state will be involved because part of the application relates to extending into the Green Belt. Part of the airport site is already in a Green Belt inset.

The secratary of state could have 'called in' the application to decide the whole thing had he been of a mind. Opponents of the expansion called for that to happen last year when they believed that the previous Conservative-dominated North Somerset Council (NSC) would approve it. With the 'Rainbow' council now in place following last year's local elections opponents probably think they now have a much better chance of seeing the application rejected by the local authority councillors.

If the NSC councillors reject the application the airport can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate (ironically it's based in Bristol at Temple Quay) where a planning inspector would be appointed to look into the matter which in this case would likely involve a public enquiry. Usually, the planning inspector decides the appeal him or herself but in high profile cases their findings can be passed to the secretary of state to decide.

On Monday week, when the NSC councillors determine the application, they can approve or reject it, or defer a decision to a later date. I still think one of the last two options is the most likely.

The NSC planning officers conclusions might be one step on the journey, albeit a positive one from the airport's perspective.

Incidentally, a local Bristol Green councillor was on Radio Bristol this morning and repeated his assertion that if the application is approved it would mean an extra 10,000 car journeys a day. If every one of the extra two million passengers, including children, drove to/from the airport alone in a car it would amount to little more than half that number. In reality with most people going in at least couples, often more, and yet more travelling by bus, coach and minibus the additional number of car journeys generated would work out at probably no more than than 2,000 a day, if that. The interviewer didn't challenge his figures, neither did the airport CEO who was interviewed next but I don't think that Dave Lees was in ths studio so he might not have heard the Green councillor's interview.

I was out last night so haven't had a chance to look at the NSC planning officers' detailed report. It might be hard going at over 200 pages I believe but I'll give it a go in the next day or so.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Airport response to NSC planning officers' recommendations re BRS expansion plans. The press release points out that in 2019 nearly 9 million passengers were handled, an increase of 3% on 2018, but fewer flights were needed to accomplish the rise in passenger numbers.

Bristol Airport’s response on North Somerset Council's Planning Officers recommendation

North Somerset Council’s planning officers have reviewed Bristol Airport’s application in detail and obtained technical advice on a range of key issues. Local people and stakeholders across the region have also been consulted and their views considered in the process of producing this positive...

www.bristolairport.co.uk

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I've had a look through the 235-page report prepared by North Somerset Council planning officers and one of the things that struck me was that most, although not all, of the smaller authorities in the area (parish councils and small town councils) were opposed to the expansion, whilst the larger authorities suppported it (with a couple of exceptions):

West of England Combined Authority (WECA)
Bristol City Council
South Gloucestershire Unitary Authority
Somerset County Council
Sedgemoor District Council
were all in favour, although some wanted assurances on such things as traffic and noise nuisance

Bath & North East Somerset Unitary Authority objected

Mendip District Council had no comment

Welsh Government were not in favour, believing that their airport should be used more instead.

 

[Jerry]

Welsh Government were not in favour, believing that their airport should be used more instead.

I'm surprised that they were able to put in an objection!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I'm surprised that they were able to put in an objection!

Anyone can. I remember at the previous major expansion application that was approved in 2011 one of the many objections at that time came from an Australian environmental group.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

I think one thing the council should consider is improving access roads.
Each time I have been to Bristol airport, there have been long queues from Lulsgate Bottom to the traffic island at the top of the hill

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I think one thing the council should consider is improving access roads.
Each time I have been to Bristol airport, there have been long queues from Lulsgate Bottom to the traffic island at the top of the hill

Part of the planning application is to further improve the junctions at Lulsgate Bottom on the A 38. That's the main one at the ats going west (Downside Road) and the smaller one going east over the cattle grid.

The ats were put in a few years ago when the junction was widened (part of the previous section 106 obligations). Although the ats assist traffic entering the A38 from Downside Road they do tend to cause traffic holdups with vehicles coming from Bristol. Usually the serious queues are at certain times of the day, ie commuter times and Friday afternoons in summer with a combination of POETS Day and people leaving early for a weekend break in the South West.

I'm surprised you've encountered queues between Lulsgate Bottom and the top of the hill. I presume you mean the short hill going up towards the roundabout at the main entrance to the airport. That short section usually moves relatively freely.

On a more general theme there are all sorts of studies going on to improve surface access with one jointly funded by the airport (mainly) and local authority, North Somerset Unitary Authority. Both the West of England Combined Authority and Bristol City Council are actively looking at ways of improving access too. The elected mayor of Bristol wants a mass transport system with his first route from the city centre to the airport.

The issue of surface access runs through the 235-page report submitted by the North Somerset planning officers in their recommendations, with many provisos, to approve the expansion application.

 

[superking]

When the traffic lights were put up at the end of downside road, it baffles many. When you come from the Bristol direction you can not turn into downside road. You have to go up to the a38/airport roundabout and come back down incline to be able to turn into downside road. It causes more traffic going towards airport and causes problems many times of the day. There has been lots of people moaning about this as it causes many more road delays. There needs to be a clear road as much is possible and not add traffic to add to the problems. Mixing 2 types of transport does not work.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

Apologies, not being local, I am unfamiliar with the geography.

I only remember sitting in a car queueing for at least a mile, a couple of times, waiting to get to the island at the top.

my worst jaunt was when the M5 was closed just south of Avonmouth and the whole of Bristol city centre Became a rat run. It took 4 hours to get from the end of the motorway to the airport.
Luckily, I was dropping a friend off (he rebooked with easyJet after Monarch went TU) and we planned a couple of hours in town. He caught his flight, which was half-empty, but the original crew missed it because of the traffic!

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Apologies, not being local, I am unfamiliar with the geography.

I only remember sitting in a car queueing for at least a mile, a couple of times, waiting to get to the island at the top.

my worst jaunt was when the M5 was closed just south of Avonmouth and the whole of Bristol city centre Became a rat run. It took 4 hours to get from the end of the motorway to the airport.
Luckily, I was dropping a friend off (he rebooked with easyJet after Monarch went TU) and we planned a couple of hours in town. He caught his flight, which was half-empty, but the original crew missed it because of the traffic!

You probably mean Barrow Hill (over a mile long on the A 38) before you get to Lulsgate Bottom. Sometimes the queue can stretch back 3-4 miles to the city boundary, usually on summer Friday afternoons when commuters leave work early and others decide on an early getaway for a break in the West Country plus the airport traffic.

At other times major congestion on the M5 can lead to gridlock on many of the roads into and out of Bristol including around the central area, as you obviously discovered on one occasion - there is simply no other way around when the M5 is blocked.

Apart from at peak time for commuters the A38 isn't anything like as bad for congestion for much of the time as some would have it. I use it regularly and in the 1950s lived in a cottage next to it south of what is now the airport in pre-M5 days. The congestion then could stretch 20 miles from Bristol on some summer weekends. It was the only road for every type of traffic from the Midlands/North to the furthert South West.

Some people moan about aircraft noise. In those days we had heavy lorries crawling up the steep and long Redhill outside our cottage all night long. You just got used to it.

Despite the foregoing, there is no doubt that BRS is in serious need of much better surface connectivity.

 

[superking]

Some summer Saturdays the traffic would stretch way past Exeter and way past Bristol for vehicles going south. The roads from Bristol to Exeter would all get clogged up with drivers trying to get a route south and not use A38. The opening of the M5 in the 70s made a big difference.The terrain towards Bath if you look at it is a lot flatterbthen you taking traffic away from Bristol.This day and age some one has a solution to the problem some where.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Some summer Saturdays the traffic would stretch way past Exeter and way past Bristol for vehicles going south. The roads from Bristol to Exeter would all get clogged up with drivers trying to get a route south and not use A38. The opening of the M5 in the 70s made a big difference.The terrain towards Bath if you look at it is a lot flatterbthen you taking traffic away from Bristol.This day and age some one has a solution to the problem some where.

There has been a longstanding call from many people to build a relief motorway to the south of Bristol between the M4 and M5. That might assist some traffic accessing the airport along the M4 from the east but looking at the various statistics of airport passengers' origin and final destination the M4 corridor is not one of the main sources, albeit an important one.

As you are of course aware Bristol has motorways to the north and to the west as well as the M32 link from the M4 almost into the city centre but nothing along the southern and eastern flanks. There is the ring road from Hicks Gate outside Keynsham that heads north and then west around that side of the conurbation to link up with M32 approach roads, but it's full of roundabouts and is usually absolutely gridlocked during the peak hours.

Another section of the ring road runs through the outer southern suburbs for a mile before joining the new South Bristol Link (which isn't even dualled) to meet the A38 just outside the city boundary.

Attempts to fill in much of the missing ring road between Hicks Gate and the current short southern section have been on the table for many years but are always met with vehement opposition from many of the the locals. I live locally to the proposed route and am not against the idea; neither is my wife. We try not to be 'nimbys'.

Such a ring road extension would be some help to the airport in terms of improving access but probably only marginally. At least it would provide an alternative route to get around Bristol rather than through it, especially when the M5 is blocked, but the problem of severe congestion on the existing sections at peak hours would remain.