Archived press release

Public inquiry into cheap flights without planning permission

31 January 2005

A public inquiry billed as "David verses Goliath", starts today (Tues 1 Feb), which could lead to the UK's biggest holiday company being forced to stop operating low cost flights from a minor airfield being hyped as "Coventry" Airport.

ThomsonFly, owned by holiday giant TUI, has been running cheap flights from a small cargo airfield at Baginton in Warwickshire since last April but critics, including Friends of the Earth, Warwick District Council and local residents, say its operating without planning consent and has expanded so-called Coventry Airport without obtaining the required planning permission.

Warwick District Council issued ThomsonFly with notices to shut down after it began flights last year. The company's appeal against this will be heard at the public inquiry.

The case has national significance and raises the issue of whether airports are able to expand without planning permission. If ThomsonFly is successful the case will show large companies are able to ignore current planning regulations which should protect the public and their environment.

The outcome of the public inquiry will be closely watched by airlines eyeing up other small air fields across the UK with a view to using them for passenger flights - potentially without needing to get planning permission.

Friends of the Earth's West Midland spokesperson, Chris Crean, said:

"If a local resident put up an extension without planning permission the council would order them to pull it down. However when a huge company goes ahead without planning permission they are able to appeal along and force a huge public inquiry at the public's expense."

Archy Muir of Campaign Against the Expansion of Coventry Airport said:

"We have sound arguments, for closing the temporary terminal building, and stopping expansion of Coventry airport.Our argumentshave the support of all four local MPs, and town and parish councils across Warwickshire. However this is a tough fight. The planning system is full of loop-holes, it is leaden-footed, and generally permissive of airport development. And Warwick District Council clearly does not have the resources required to properly stand up toan unprincipledgiant like TUI. But, in the last analysis, weare confident that reason will prevail, and the Inspector will order closure of the temporary terminal."

Gill Smith of Warwickshire CPRE added:

"This whole fiasco is yet another demonstration of how the system fails to deal promptly with abuses against it when large corporate ambition is involved. The arguments on both sides will finally now be heard before an independent Inspector. It is hoped that he will listen carefully to the reasoned arguments that we believe weigh strongly against what has happened."

Notes

Public Inquiry details:

Date: 01.02.05

Starts: 10:00am

Location: Leamington Town Hall, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

Note - The inquiry could last until July 2005 and will determine whether back-dated planning permission should be given for the temporary passenger terminal building at Baginton.

Baginton Airfield:

Location - Four miles south of Coventry, next to the Middle March Trading Estate and Baginton Village

Transport links: No rail service; poor bus service; difficult to access on foot or bike. Main road access from A45/A46 Toll Bar Jct

History:

• Best known as a cargo carrier airfield.
• Operated by Coventry City Council until Air Atlantic took over in 1998 with a 150yr lease under the name of West Midlands International Airport Ltd (WMIAL)
• Coventry City Council still owns the land on which the operations take place.
• The land is in the county of Warwickshire, not Coventry City
• Warwickshire District Council is the local planning authority

Background information:

The Aviation White Paper of 2003 states on p13:

"Any proposals to develop Coventry Airport, ... should be decided locally."

"9.31 Coventry Airport currently serves a specialist role within the region, catering for business aviation, air mail and some freight, and can continue to perform this role within existing constraints. There is a current planning application for a terminal development at the airport. However, in the light of our conclusions on capacity elsewhere in the Midlands, and having regard to potential surface access, environmental and airspace constraints, we would not envisage any significant further development being appropriate beyond the level of passenger throughput in the current application."

West Midlands Friends of the Earth is campaigning as part of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the national campaign coalition Airport Watch, and argues

• Aviation growth is uncontrolled and Government must act to manage demand
• Aviation receives unjustified subsidies. It pays no tax on fuels, the purchase of planes or VAT on ticket sales
• It is a large and rapidly increasing contributor to global climate change to the extent that it will make our carbon dioxide reduction targets unachievable
• People ling under flight paths deserve full mitigation and compensation which is legally binding
• If aviation paid for its external costs and contributed to general taxation like other industries there would be no need for any expansion of facilities within the UK
• The aviation industry takes far more out of the local economy that it brings in terms of jobs and economic activity; the UK tourism deficit for 2003 was £17b (the difference between what UK residents spent abroad and what visitors from overseas spent in the UK)

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust