Public Inquiry to be held on planning application

(Date of issue: Thursday, 19 June 2008)

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Hazel Blears, has ‘called – in’ Stobart Air’s planning application to develop Carlisle Airport.

A Public Inquiry will now be held, conducted by a Government Planning Inspector, who will report to the Secretary of State and advise whether the planning application can go ahead or not. No date has been set for the Public Inquiry nor has its likely duration been indicated but the City Council expects those details to be announced soon. .

Members of Carlisle City Council’s Development Control Committee gave support to development proposals for Carlisle Airport on Friday, 25 April but referred the application to the Secretary of State as a "Departure" from the Development Plan. The letter from GONW sets out why the Secretary of State has concluded that the application should be determined by her rather than at a local level and indicates a preliminary list of matters which the evidence to be put to the Inquiry should address. These include:

• Whether the development would contribute to sustainable economic development;
• Whether it would protect and enhance the natural and historic environment and ensure high quality development through good and inclusive design;
• Whether there is justification for the proposed non-airport related development in the rural location or whether there are more central sites capable of accommodating it either in its entirety or in part;
• Whether the proposals fully take into account issues arising from land identified and protected for its Biodiversity value under local, national and European designations;
• Whether the application promotes more sustainable transport choices and reduces the need to travel by private transport;
• The relationship between the development and enhancement of the Airport and provisions for increased levels of employment, with particular reference to the respective phasing and the need to ensue that planned development of the airport takes place in advance of, or contemporaneously with, the employment related elements of the proposals.

Carlisle City Council gave its backing for the £35million plans, subject to compliance with more than 50 conditions.

The Carlisle Airport planning application proposes the re-location of Eddie Stobart’s Transport Base together with WA Developments to new accommodation together with the construction of a replacement runway, a new passenger terminal, freight warehousing and a new air traffic control centre.

The City Council recognised that the application was of major public interest, and to reflect the complexity and scale of the application, a large-scale consultation exercise was undertaken. In addition to comments received from local residents and businesses, as a result of the widespread publicity given to the submission, more than 50 statutory and non-statutory organisations, agencies and authorities were specifically asked to comment.