Councillor objects storage plans at Plymouth's closed airport
The City Council says any damage to the runway would be repaired
A councillor is raising concerns about a plan to store huge concrete bridge beams for the Forder Valley Link Road on a runway at Plymouth’s closed airport.
Maddi Bridgeman says the scheme would go against a planning policy to protect the site for aviation until 2024.
The link road construction firm Balfour Beatty has submitted a planning application to store the bridge beams on Runway 31 alongside Plymbridge Road temporarily for 12 months.
The Conservative councillor for Moor View claimed that would breach the protection policy and obstruct attempts to find a new operator to reopen the airport.
But the city council says temporary use which does not harm future aviation is allowed, and any damage to the runway would be repaired.
A statement from the council said the 28 beams were too big to be stored on the link road site.
It said subject to receiving planning permission, the beams were expected to be at the airport for six months, with measures in place to protect the runway.
Cllr Bridgeman said she had been contacted by residents who strongly objected to the proposal which would put the runway out of action.
She has asked for the application to go to the council’s planning committee for a decision, which means it will be discussed in public.
The councillor wrote: "If Plymouth City Council were to approve this application it would be in violation of the Council’s own policies that safeguard the site until the review period.
"There is no objection to the beams to be stored elsewhere on the site provided that they do not impact negatively or affect potential future aviation operations."
A policy to prevent development of the airport land for five years until a review was included in the Plymouth and South Devon Local Plan adopted by councils in 2019.
The policy is designed to allow time for the council to investigate the feasibility of reopening the 113-acre site for aviation.
The council-owned airport was transferred to Sutton Harbour Holdings in 2004 on a 150-year lease.
The company closed it in 2011 under a clause allowing it to halt operations if commercial flights for the public became uneconomic.
The council’s Labour administration has said it wants to see the airport reopened, and is asking for Government financial support.
Sutton Harbour Holdings wants to develop the land for housing and has outlined plans for a new estate called Plym Vale.
It has said its lease still has 135 years to run and it has an option to renew for another 150 years.
Almost 38,000 people signed a petition to save the airport in 2012.
Cllr Bridgeman said an alternative storage site should be found for the beams.
A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: "The Joint Local Plan safeguards Plymouth Airport under Policy PLY42.
"This stipulates that uses of a temporary nature that do not prejudice the future resumption of aviation use of the site may be permitted.
"Our Forder Valley Link Road contractor has submitted a planning application to temporarily store 28 concrete bridge beams on the site and this will now need to be considered by the planning authority.
"The construction area is not big enough to safely store and manoeuvre the beams, which is why they need to be stored off-site and put into position individually.
"We are arranging early delivery of the beams to hopefully avoid any supply chain issues we may encounter due the Covid pandemic or Brexit.
"It is anticipated that the beams will only need to be stored for around six months but the planning application requests 12 months to allow for any potential delays.
"Together with our contractor we will be taking great care to prevent any damage to the runway, using supports to spread the weight of the beams and keep them raised off the ground.
"If the surface is damaged in any way it will be restored to its previous condition (subject, of course, to the application being approved)."
More than 20 objections had been submitted to the planning application by Wednesday, November 25, with a number claiming it breached the protection for the airport under the Joint Local Plan.
Work started in 2019 on the three-year project to build the £49million 1-kilometre (0.62-mile) Forder Valley Link Road.
It includes a bridge over the Bircham Valley and links the junction of Novorossiysk Road and Forder Valley Road to William Prance Road at Derriford.
The road will create a new route from the A38 to the north of the city, reducing journey times to key sites including Derriford Hospital and unlocking land for development where more than 4,000 homes are planned over the next 15 years.
Public consultation on the airport planning application is open until Tuesday, December 22.