Business organisations have welcomed the green light for Bristol Airport’s expansion, announced by planning inspectors this week, despite the decision sparking outrage among local political leaders and green groups.
The government’s Planning Inspectorate, to which the airport appealed following North Somerset Council’s refusal of the scheme, pictured, two years ago, conceded there remained “a significant level of opposition” to the plan. 
But the three inspectors, who spent three months holding their inquiry into the plan, said while they had “fully heard and carefully considered” objections these should not prevent the scheme from going ahead.
The airport’s owner Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan says the expansion would generate an extra £1.4bn for the regional economy over 10 years and create 800 jobs on-site and a further 5,000 around the region.
The plan is designed to allow the airport to increase its capacity to handle 12m passengers a year – up from the 10m restriction under its previous planning permission.
The airport had expected to reach that level by last year, before the pandemic hit. It argued much of the increase in its passenger numbers would come from people living in the South West and South Wales who would otherwise fly from other UK airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick or Birmingham. 
It also said policies it either already has in place or plans to introduce will offset any environmental issues linked to its expansion
Airport CEO Dave Lees, pictured, said: “The decision is excellent news for our region’s economy, allowing us to create thousands of new jobs in the years ahead and provide more choice for our customers, supporting inbound tourism, and reducing the millions of road journeys made to London airports each year.
“We will now push ahead with our multi-million-pound plans for net zero operations by 2030 and look forward to working with stakeholders and the community to deliver sustainable growth.”
The regional arms of the CBI and Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), were among the business groups that backed the airport’s appeal.
CBI South West director Ben Rhodes said: “Bristol Airport’s expanded capacity will create opportunities for the South West’s world-class businesses, with the potential for new routes giving our region more direct connections and opening up new markets. 
“We hope to see Bristol Airport generating thousands of new jobs in the coming years, helping to level-up the South West and drive forward our region’s economic recovery.”
FSB Somerset lead John Mayer said the decision would send a “strong signal that our region will continue to welcome trade, tourism, and investment from overseas”.
However, West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris, pictured, who leads the region’s combined authority, said he believed the “huge and growing public anger” over the decision would result in it being overturned by a future government.
Following the Labour politician’s election as last May, the combined authority, which includes Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils, reversed the support it had given the airport under previous Tory Metro Mayor Tim Bowles.
Mayor Norris said the inspectors were understood to have made their decision because the government does not have a national airport expansion policy.
As a result, they felt they could not restrict some UK airports while others were able to expand.
Calling for an “urgent national conversation” about airports, he said: “I am dismayed but not at all surprised by this decision. The government is in chaos on UK airport expansion as on pretty much everything else.
“The government’s lack of green policy on UK airport expansion has resulted in inspectors ignoring the voices of local people, and the resolution of the West of England Combined Authority, which I lead.
“There is a climate emergency and everyone should be doing their bit – particularly government. I have always thought the people are ahead of law makers on this issue.
“The public will severely punish politicians who ignore the climate emergency and I believe this decision will be overturned by future new government within years.”
North Somerset Council leader Don Davies added: “This simply flies in the face of local democracy and disregards the views of the local communities who fought equally hard to resist the expansion.
“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.”
Bath MP Wera Hobhouse tweeted: “What a bleak day for our planet.
“This is nothing short of climate denial and is completely unjustifiable. Short-term thinking and a refusal to face up to the climate emergency will have a catastrophic impact on our planet.”
North Somerset MP Dr Liam Fox also took to Twitter, saying he was “hugely disappointed” with the decision. He added: “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.”
