Agenda item

"Beyond the Horizon. The Future of UK Aviation". A Call for Evidence by HM Government on a New Aviation Strategy.

To consider the call for evidence by HM Government on a new UK Aviation Strategy.

Minutes:

The committee considered the report of the Planning Policy/Development Management Liaison Officer.

 

The Planning Policy/Development Management Liaison Officer noted that in the Council’s response to the government’s call for evidence, he had expressed concern that providing a number of separate documents for consultation could prevent easy understanding of overall policy by those with a lack of technical knowledge.

 

The Planning Policy/Development Management Liaison Officer said page 18 of the report was a commentary on the government’s recent decision on the new night flights regime for Stansted.  The outcome was as expected, but the introduction of the new QC/0.125 category was welcome.

 

The Planning Policy/Development Management Liaison Officer said making use of unused South East airport capacity was an issue that the government wanted to deal with before the second round of consultation had been completed.

 

The Planning Policy/Development Management Liaison Officer said growth and environmental impact would likely be the most significant issue for Uttlesford, encompassing surface access, noise, air quality and airspace management. Councillor Fairhurst said he thought it was important to think about growth and the environment as two separate issues. The Planning Policy/Development Management Liaison Officer said he had covered that point in the Council’s response to the consultation.

 

The Chairman said the six chapters in the report all covered important topics, but the Phase 2 consultation might not necessarily take into account all the issues that were important to the Council.  The Planning Policy / Development Management Liaison Officer said that, in that case, the Council could raise these matters in its Phase 2 consultation response.

 

In response to the Chairman saying that there was no structural linkage between each consultation, the Planning Policy/Development Management Liaison Officer said he had made that point in the Council’s response to the government’s call for evidence. A government-led policy on planning and noise and a clear iteration of responsibility for aerodrome safeguarding were needed.

 

The Planning Policy/Development Management Liaison Officer said clarity on airport market strategies was needed and it would be beneficial to consult with other authorities.  Assessing the quality of passenger travel needed to be seen as the whole journey experience.

 

The Planning Policy/Development Management Liaison Officer and members said it was not clear what was intended by the government’s use of the term ‘best use of existing capacity’ of runways, which was used throughout the consultation. It was noted that to some, this phrase implied a sufficient level of resilience to recover the timetable when unexpected events occurred, as opposed to maximum capacity use.

 

The Chairman said there was currently no linkage between potential residential development and potential airport development. In response, the Planning Policy/Development Management Liaison Officer said airports would always have to demonstrate in transport assessments that modelling work took into account demands placed on the road network by local housing growth.

 

The Planning Policy/Development Management Liaison Officer said it would be helpful for each government topic paper to include a non-technical summary. Members said further consultations should avoid leading questions and allow the possibility for detailed answers.

 

 

The meeting ended at 8.15pm.

 

Supporting documents: