Luton Airport is planning a major expansion.
A Consultation Paper did not reach the Welwyn Parish Council (WPC) until 25th June 2018 with responses required by 31st August, leaving precious little time to study the associated papers and to respond.
As WPAG are co-opted members of the WPC Planning Committee we have been invited to contribute to their response.
However, the dates of scheduled WPC meetings puts pressure on the time left to respond, and the WPAG Committee will therefore prepare a separate WPAG group response.
The Consultation Documents
To read the Main Consultation Paper go to Consultation Paper and for a Summary go to Consultation Summary. Other associated documents include the Feedback Form
These are weighty papers and the WPC Briefing Paper (copied below), is recommended reading for its comparative brevity.
Individual WPAG members who would like to add thoughts and comments, are encouraged to respond directly to the Consultation.
Briefing Paper for the Welwyn Parish Council Planning Committee
The following Briefing Paper has been prepared by Cllr Bill Morris, Chair of WPC and is reproduced here as it provides a very helpful guide which will be of help to WPAG members.
Background
WPC first became aware of this consultation at their 25th June meeting. Luton Borough Council (whose company – London Luton Airport Limited – own the airport) are consulting with those whose opinions they seek and who may be affected, about their proposals to expand the airport further and a series of public meetings has been drawn up. The consultation runs until 31 August, with a series of 17 consultation events taking place in and around Luton between 9 July and 4 August. At these events everyone will have the opportunity to view the plans, speak to members of the expert project team, and provide feedback. The meeting for our locality was to be held on 10 July at Oaklands College WGC from 1400 to 2000. Given the lack of open advertisement or direct contact and our late discovery of the event, no WPC representative could attend. Other venues and times are given on their website and members may wish to attend a more remote event.
The website contains a lot of information including proposals, consultation format and a response booklet: https:/www.luton.gov.uk/news/Pages/Consultation-gets-under-way-on-potential-expansion-of-London-Luton-Airport.aspx
Given that much of the village, Digswell and Oaklands are under the flight paths, many residents (assuming they were aware) may have concerns. In addition to the obvious air and noise pollution issues, there are also infrastructure questions concerning travelling both to and from the airport and the airport layout itself, when such an expansion is being considered.The Planning & Licensing Committee is invited to consider the issue and this outline reply, with regard to submission to WPC at their July meeting. The consultation ends on 31 August, with a further round in 2019.
Proposals
Luton Airport is growing faster than predicted and is now the fifth busiest airport in the UK. At its current rate of growth, Luton is forecast to reach its existing permitted capacity of 18 million passengers per annum (mppa) in 2021. The Council believe it may be possible to handle up to 36-38 mppa (i.e. doubling the throughput. The major reasons for doing this, as given by the Council are:
- There is an opportunity for Luton to play a substantially greater role in the UK aviation market, notwithstanding the proposal for a third runway at Heathrow and the proposed expansion at Stansted. (“Why not us”?)
- Initial estimates are than there could be an increase of up to 800 new jobs for each additional million passengers per year travelling through Luton and an annual boost to the regional economy of £76m. (“Let’s see the calculations and if Herts and a village such as ours really benefits”)
- The contribution of an expanded Luton to Beds, Bucks and Herts could reach up to £2.6bn and support up to 42,000 jobs. (as per previous statement).
Essentially this all boils down to developing the site to be able to handle a doubling in passenger numbers and presumably in aircraft numbers (large jets are the most significant, the extensive and lucrative private jet market is important but insignificant in these terms.) This in turn means expansion or re-arranging of: runway(s), terminal building(s), aircraft hangers (servicing/repairs etc.), inter-communication within the airport and passenger transport infrastructure outside the airport and beyond.
[1] Prepared by Bill Morris, Chair WPC, following a request from Colin Hukin, Chair P&L Committee. The author has lived in Welwyn (near QVM Hospital) for over 32 years, has flown in and out of Luton Airport on business and pleasure all of that time and still continues to do so for pleasure, twice a year. His home is also under the westbound landing flight path.