Bristol Airport’s bid to expand to 100,000 flights a year is facing criticism after a councillor said the plans fail to account properly for the noise and traffic that could hit villages beyond the North Somerset boundary.
Paul May, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Publow with Whitchurch on Bath and North East Somerset Council, told a meeting in Bath that the airport accepts the impact on nine North Somerset villages but does not consider villages to the south and east of the airport in his area. His comments came as the airport seeks planning permission from North Somerset Council for the expansion.
May said the airport’s approach leaves out communities that sit just beyond the council line, even though the issue is not confined neatly to one authority’s map. The boundary between North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset comes as close as 830 metres from the end of the runway, putting homes and villages on both sides into the orbit of any changes to flight numbers.
In the meeting, May said the airport recognises the impact and noise impacts on nine North Somerset villages, but does not consider any villages in Bath and North East Somerset to the south and east of the airport. He said the plans failed to take into account noise and traffic impacts on villages on the other side of the boundary, turning what might look like a local planning case into a broader dispute over who gets counted when the airport measures its footprint.
Bristol Airport said it has taken potentially affected areas in Bath and North East Somerset into account. That response goes to the heart of the argument now before planners: whether communities outside North Somerset have been properly considered in a scheme that would raise the airport’s flight cap to 100,000 a year.
The outcome matters because the airport sits close to a council boundary that is meandering, not straight, and the nearest point lies just 830 metres from the runway. With the application under consideration by North Somerset Council, the next stage will determine whether the expansion can move ahead with the wider area’s concerns folded into the decision or whether those objections become a lasting obstacle to the plan.
