Final sign off on Southampton Airport runway extension

The expansion of the runway at Southampton Airport is set to go ahead, it has been announced.

Southampton Airport has confirmed that there is no further opportunity for the government to call-in the decision to expand the runway by 164m.

It comes as earlier today Eastleigh Borough Council announced that the final planning agreements have been formally signed off.

The council said it had informed the government it intended to sign off the final agreements by the end of May.

But the authority did not receive any request from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to not issue the decision and planning permission has therefore been formally granted.

Southampton Airport said this is the end of the formal decision-making process and there is no further opportunity for the government to call-in the runway or intervene.

The airport also said the government had an opportunity to call-in the scheme, but it has not done so.

It comes as in April the ministry said it had received a number of requests to call in the plans.

The move followed concerns over the impact the runway expansion would have on noise and pollution.

Following the announcement Steve Szalay, the airport’s operations director, said: “Another huge milestone reached, thank you to everyone for their support. The signing of the Section 106 Agreement means we have been granted full planning permission to deliver the 164-metre runway extension and in doing so we can not only safeguard the jobs of our airport colleagues, but are now able to create a further 265 more through construction. This is why we are keen to get started as soon as possible and deliver what we have been consulting on.”

Among the details formally agreed today there are a cap of three million passenger per year and the establishment of a Community Health Fund.

As previously reported, the plans proved controversial and sparked a heated debate among the local community.

On the one hand, campaigners and some residents called for the plans to be refused on the grounds of climate change, noise and pollution.

On the other hand, residents and the local business community asked for the plans to be approved saying the move would boost the local economy and create new jobs.

In a statement the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “The Council has now issued the decision on the Southampton Airport planning application. This means that the Secretary of State does not have the option to consider calling it in.”