Luton Borough Council Newsroom

22 February 2019, 15:03

Preferred option published for London Luton Airport expansion

Luton Council’s airport company London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL) has today published its preferred option for the sustainable future growth of the UK’s fifth largest and fastest growing major airport which will support economic growth and help meet the significant projected shortfall in aviation capacity in London and the South-East to 2050.

Using the existing runway, LLAL is targeting expansion of the airport to 32 million passengers per annum (mppa) from its current cap of 18 mppa. The preferred option would involve construction of a new second terminal to the north of the runway. To compensate for the partial use of Wigmore Valley Park, new parkland and open space would be provided over a larger area to the east of the existing park.

The company has also published technical reports which outline the feedback received during the first period of consultation last summer, and how its expert advisors have continued to assess the options for development in the light of comments made.

The proposals are of a scale that require an application to the government for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to authorise the expansion.

Over the coming months LLAL will work up the preferred option into proposals that will form the basis of statutory consultation on the proposed DCO application. Consultation is planned to take place in the autumn, and will include key strategies to minimise and mitigate impacts on the environment.

It is expected that the DCO application will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in mid-2020. The final decision will rest with the Secretary of State of Transport.

Cllr Andy Malcolm, chair of LLAL, said: “We are excited to be able to present our preferred option which responds to our first public consultation and outlines how we can move towards making the best use of our existing single runway in line with government policy, deliver maximum benefit to the local, regional and national economy, and actively manage environmental impacts.

“In our Vision for Sustainable Growth 2020-50, published in December 2017, we outlined that the maximum capacity of the runway could be up to 36-38 mppa. How this might be best achieved was the focus of the consultation we carried out during 2018. It remains our assessment and aspiration that the airport can deliver these volumes in the longer term.

“However, in our judgment, at this stage our preferred option for growth to 32 mppa best reflects our determination to get the balance absolutely right between the economic benefits and environmental impacts associated with airport expansion. It is also consistent with feedback people have provided about impacts, such as on road use and green belt land.”

An initial ten-week, non-statutory consultation period ran from June to August 2018. More than 1,700 people attended a series of 19 community events, and 892 responses were received via feedback forms and emails.

Feedback showed support for LLAL’s strategy to make the best use of its existing single runway, and for its emerging preferred option for two terminals north of the runway. The most common issues raised included noise, flight paths, air quality and how people will get to and from the airport.

Cllr Malcolm said: “We know that our airport will be operating close to the current planning limit in 2019, and that the Department for Transport has identified a shortfall of circa 60 million aviation passenger journeys by 2050 across the UK. We have a unique opportunity as the owner of London Luton Airport to support growth of the local, sub-regional and national economies, and the council’s transformation of our town.

“The two-terminal solution north of the runway is our preferred option that will now form the basis for our ongoing design work.

“Our preferred option safeguards as much land as possible within Wigmore Valley Park, and provides a new footprint for the parkland and open space which is 10 per cent bigger than the existing and positioned further away from the runway than it is at the moment. We will also deliver significant improvements to facilities in the retained part of the park. We have also worked to constrain the extent of development required in the green belt.”

London Luton Airport is expected to handle 17.7 million passengers in 2019 and at its current rate of growth is projected to reach its current maximum permitted capacity of 18 mppa by 2020.

In 2017 the airport generated £1.3bn benefit to the national economy, including £895m within Luton, and supported nearly 10,000 direct and 20,000 indirect jobs within the three counties of Beds, Bucks and Herts.

Through revenue received from LLAL, the Council was able to spend £28m on essential front-line services in Luton in 2017/18. In addition, LLAL itself made donations totalling £10m for voluntary and charitable organisations in communities impacted by airport operations. This community funding equated to 62p per passenger – 24 times greater than any other UK airport.

Cllr Malcolm added: “The airport is a key driver for the success of the whole region, generating more than £2,300 in economic benefit every minute, and we are committed to ensuring that everyone can share the benefits.

“At the same time that we present more detailed proposals in the autumn, we will also outline how we propose to develop further the support we provide for communities in areas impacted by airport operations.

“There is now a lot more work for us to do make sure our proposals are the very best they can be, and to mitigate and minimise the full range of environmental impacts that respondents to the consultation have helped us to identify.

“We are committed to continuing the conversation with all our nearby residents, businesses and other stakeholders, and look forward to consulting with you again in the autumn.”

ENDS

Notes to editors


Draft proposed development layout attached
LLAL’s technical reports: Non Statutory Consultation Report and Sift 3 Report; are available on the dedicated website www.futureluton.llal.org.uk

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