Bristol Airport allowed to expand after government appeal

The airport's expansion means it will be able to accommodate 12 million passengers per year, up from 10 million currently

Bristol Airport's expansion plan has been granted on appeal after being refused planning permission.

It will see the airport increase its current capacity from 10 million to 12 million passengers per year.

The planning inspectorate said it recognised the "major disappointment" campaigners would have, but the benefits would outweigh the harm to green belt land.

Airport bosses said it was "excellent news for the economy."

MP for North Somerset Dr Liam Fox said on Twitter he was "hugely disappointed" in the appeal being allowed.

"The local transport infrastructure around Bristol Airport cannot sustain the amount of passenger traffic without substantially impacting the quality of life in [nearby] towns and villages," he continued.

To accommodate the extra passengers, thousands of car parking spaces will be added.

Although the airport's current capacity is 10 million passengers, it has yet to reach that limit - fewer than nine million people used the airport pre-pandemic in 2019.

North Somerset Council leader Don Davies said the decision "flies in the face of local democracy," and that he will look to challenge the ruling.

'Climate emergency'

He said: "The wider impact on the impacts on the environment outweigh the benefits of airport expansion, which sit almost entirely in the commercial interests of the owners, a foreign pension fund.

"We face a climate emergency and to countenance yet more leisure flights from this airport is completely unacceptable from one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions."

The government's planning inspectorate did note there was "no national policy which seeks to limit airport expansion or impose capacity limits - which would be the effect of dismissing this appeal".

Local officials said they were dismayed by the ruling.

Bristol Airport's chief executive Dave Lees said the expansion would "create thousands of new jobs in the years ahead and reduce the millions of road journeys made to London airports each year".

"We look forward to working with stakeholders and the community to deliver sustainable growth."

How did we get here?

Plans to expand Bristol Airport were first unveiled four years ago.

But North Somerset Council voted to reject the plans in 2020 on environmental grounds.

Neighbouring Bristol City Council, Bath and North East Somerset Council and the West of England Combined Authority also opposed the plans.

The expansion was even mentioned in a speech by climate activist Greta Thunberg during her visit to Bristol in 2020.

Bristol Airport appealed the council judgement with North Somerset Council and then the government, which overruled the council after a three month enquiry.