Plymouth should extend the protection it gives to its Plymouth Airport site under the Joint Local Plan as ‘once gone, it would be gone forever’ – that’s the stark message being put to the city’s cabinet as well as key politicians from West Devon and South Hams District Councils.
Council Leader Tudor Evans said:
“The simple fact of the matter is this site still needs to be protected as an airport. There are technological advances taking place all the time in this field, we cannot shut the door on Plymouth’s opportunity to become a part of this dynamic new world.”
Over the coming weeks, Plymouth’s Cabinet, West Devon’s Hub Committee and South Hams’ Executive will meet to consider whether the Joint Local Plan – adopted in 2019 – still provides an appropriate framework for development of the area. This is through a five-year review which considers how the plan fares against its own performance targets, changes to national policy, guidance and legislation, and changed economic, social and environmental circumstances.
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Two JLP policies specifically relate to the airport, policies SPT8 and PLY42. These safeguard the opportunity for the potential future use of the site as a general aviation airport until the five-year review of the plan and protect airport infrastructure.
The report states:
“It must be emphasised that the mere fact of the plan reaching its five-year review point does not mean that these policies are no longer part of the development plan. They will be so until such time as they are replaced or revoked.”
In arguing to extend the safeguarding period, the report argues that Plymouth airport continues to be one of the city’s most strategic assets, highlighting its importance to the city’s connectivity, arguing that once gone it would be gone forever. It further argues that ‘safeguarding land at Plymouth airport for general aviation purposes is a clear plan objective and not time limited to the five-year review.’
With business and the general aviation sector continuing to recover from the pandemic, it is reasonable to assume the delivery of aviation uses at the former airport site will take longer to achieve than first anticipated, says the report.
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National planning policy is also a consideration, with the Government recognising ‘the importance of maintaining a national network of general aviation airfields, and their need to adapt and change over time – taking into account their economic value in serving business, leisure, training and emergency service needs, and the Government’s General Aviation Strategy’.
The Government’s strategy identifies the difficulty in finding suitable sites as one of the main reasons for the lack of new general aviation accessible airfields nationally – not an issue for Plymouth given that the site has been safeguarded for this purpose.
The report highlights that there had been private sector interest in a general aviation airport at the site and some business planning work had taken place.
The council has engaged with airport and investor groups and committed to more action to help overcome land ownership constraints for future aviation use of the site. It is continuing to negotiate with the leaseholder about buying the lease back and is exploring all options to regain control of the site.
