Plymouth Airport's main runway will be used as storage despite concerns over damage risks
Councillors have been reassured that the surface would be protected
The main runway at Plymouth Airport will be used to store giant concrete bridge beams for the Forder Valley Link Road despite objections about the risk of damage.
Councillors approved the scheme after being given assurances that the surface would be protected during the temporary use for up to nine months, and any damage would be properly repaired.
The city council’s planning committee heard that the original plan was to store the beams at the former Seaton Barracks, but a new site had to be found after it was turned into the city’s main Covid-19 testing centre.
The committee heard the 28 concrete beams were each 34 metres long and weighed 94 tonnes. They were being manufactured in Ireland and would be shipped to Liverpool, then driven to Plymouth as ‘abnormal loads’ on specially adapted low-loaders.
Councillors were told that they had to be stored near the link road site because of the risk of delays due to the pandemic, and the fact that there were only two cranes in the country capable of lifting them into place to form a new bridge through the Forder Valley.
A policy to prevent development of the airport land for five years was included in the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan adopted in 2019. The policy is designed to allow time for the city 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 operations to be stopped if commercial flights became uneconomic.
Councillors on the planning committee approved a planning application from the link road contractor Balfour Beatty at a meeting on Thursday night, including conditions for the runway to be inspected before and after the storage, and for the contractor to repair any damage that might be caused. If a plan comes forward to reopen the airport during the storage period, they will be given four months’ notice to leave.
Councillors were told that the planning policy for the airport allowed temporary alternative use, and the beams would be stored on trestles with wooden stands to spread the weight. The delivery lorries would use an access from Plymbridge Road, with traffic controlled by police.
Planning officer Alistair Wagstaff said there had been 135 letters about the planning application, including 33 objections. He said the applicant had provided information about an assessment of the airport from 2003, which showed the sub-surface was stronger than a motorway. He said the applicant felt timing was critical, and they needed a decision from the committee to provide certainty for the link road project.
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.