More time needed by Government Office of the North West

The Government Office of the North West (GONW) has advised that more time is required to assess whether Carlisle City Council is able to make the final decision on a Carlisle Airport application.

Members of a Carlisle City Council Development Control Committee gave their support to development proposals for Carlisle Airport on Friday, 25 April.

Modified planning conditions for the Carlisle Airport planning approval were discussed and after assessing all the information and issues, the Committee gave their backing for the £35million plans, subject to compliance with more than 50 conditions.

The application has been referred, as a Departure from the Development Plan, to the Secretary of State via the Government Office for the North West. The Secretary of State will decide if the proposals raise matters that are of only local significance which should, therefore, be dealt with by the Council as Local Planning Authority, or whether the application raises matters that are more than of local importance, such that the submission should be "called-in" for the Secretary of State to determine, following a Public Inquiry.

In advising that the Secretary of State cannot respond within the initial 21-day referral period, GONW has also served an ‘Article 14 Direction’ instructing the City Council not to grant permission for the application without "special authorisation" from the Secretary of State.

It is understood that the Secretary of State would normally aim to respond within a further 28 days but it is hoped she will be able to reach a decision sooner, if possible.

The Carlisle Airport planning application was put forward by Stobart Air and includes the construction of replacement runway, a new passenger terminal 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.