The airport wants to expand again, this time to serve fifteen million passengers a year, with longer runways and direct flights to America and the Middle East. That’s just two years after winning a High Court battle to expand to twelve million passengers!
00:00The airport wants to expand again, this time to serve 15 million passengers a year with longer runways and direct flights to America and the Middle East.
00:10That's just two years after winning a high court battle to expand the 12 million passengers, a decision that overruled North Somerset Council's original refusal back in 2020.
00:23Now, another expansion could be back on the table. In this time, a powerful new voice may be involved.
00:31Helen Godwin, the West of England Metro Mayor, could soon gain powers under the government's devolution bill to step into a major planning decision with regional importance.
00:43North Somerset Council will still decide any new application. It has expressed interest in joining the regional authority that would bring it into Godwin's orbit and potentially under her influence on planning policy.
00:59In a statement last week, Godwin said that the airport hasn't yet hit its current cap and no application has been submitted.
01:07She struck a cautious tone, saying that any future decisions must reflect both economic and environmental priorities and that local voices must be heard, especially after the bruising legal battles of the past.
01:22The airport argues it creates jobs and drives economic growth, but critics say that the environmental costs are way too high and they haven't forgotten the 2022 ruling where a judge agreed the council could only consider emissions from buildings and ground traffic, not from planes themselves.
