Airport campaigners call for public inquiry

Campaigners against the expansion of Southampton Airport are calling for a public inquiry.

Last week controversial plans to extend the runway by 164m (538ft) were approved by Eastleigh Borough Council.

Twenty-two councillors voted in favour, with 13 against and one abstention.

Airport bosses say the move will create more than 1,000 jobs.

A statement from Lyn Brayshaw from the campaign group Airport Expansion Opposition (AXO) said: “There is a clear conflict between government policy in the Climate Change Act to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and expansion of the airport which will result in hundreds of thousand tons a year of additional greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, serious noise impacts will extend well beyond the boundaries of Eastleigh Borough, with more residents in Southampton being seriously affected than in Eastleigh, and large numbers in Winchester as well.

This caused both Councils to object to the application.

Other applications have been called in for similar reasons, and we believe the Secretary of State should now do so in this case.”

AXO has written to the Secretary of State for Communities Robert Jenrick asking for the planning application to be called-in.

This would mean the decision being taken out of the hands of Eastleigh Borough Council and taken to a public inquiry, with the final decision being made by the Secretary of State himself.