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Plans to expand London Luton Airport with a second terminal have been approved – despite advice to reject the proposal.
The airport was given the go-ahead to build a new terminal in a bid to boost capacity to up to 32,000,000 passengers a year.
Luton, the UK’s fifth busiest airport, currently has its capacity capped at 18,000,000 passengers annually.
The plans include expanding existing Terminal 1, building a new Terminal 2, plus adding taxiways, new support buildings and a car park – some of them on top of a neighbouring country park, which locals have opposed.
A government source told Metro: ‘The Transport Secretary has approved the expansion of Luton Airport for its benefits to Luton and the wider UK economy.
‘The decision goes against the Planning Inspectorate’s recommendation for refusal. Expansion will deliver huge growth benefits for Luton with thousands of good, new jobs and a cash boost for the local council which owns the airport.
‘This is the 14th Development Consent Order approved by this Labour government, demonstrating we will stop at nothing to deliver economic growth and new infrastructure as part of our Plan for Change.’
The Planning Inspectorate had recommended that the plans should be rejected due to environmental concerns.
There are no plans for a new flight path – unlike at Heathrow, where the controversial proposal for a third runway is still waiting for the final seal of approval.
Luton will build new car parking close to the terminal, bus station, taxi ranks and direct air-to-rail transport link known as Luton DART as part of the £2,400,000,000 proposal.
Luton Airport wants to see more travellers pass through its terminals by 2043.
The airport bosses insist the project would bring an extra £1,500,000,000 worth of economic activity and add up to 11,000 jobs.
Reaction to the Luton Airport expansion
Paul Kehoe CBE, the independent chair of Luton Rising, the Luton Council company that owns London Luton Airport, said the decision enables the development to continue ‘for the next chapter in the success story of London Luton Airport.’
He continued: ‘By introducing maximum limits for the airport’s noise, operational greenhouse gas emissions, air quality and surface access impacts, we also believe that our Green Controlled Growth framework represents the most far-reaching commitment to the sustainable operation of an airport ever put forward in the UK.’
However, not everyone has welcomed the expansion, which has been in the pipeline since 2018.
Local residents have raised the alarm over noise concerns, pressure on infrastructure like roads and rail, and environmental impact, including at a nearby Wigmore Valley Park bordering the airport, which would be ‘concreted over,’ campaigner Andrew Lambourne said.
He said the government’s decision to overrule the Planning Inspectorate is ‘disgraceful’ and that it ‘shows they have no regard for the environment or people’s health and wellbeing in their ’only growth matters’ agenda.’
He told Metro: ‘What they have forgotten is that the balance of payments deficit in tourism was £30bn in 2019, and that the government has no credible means to decarbonise aviation and hence to meet its Net Zero commitments.
‘Meanwhile the costs of damage due to climate change keep rising – who’s going to foot the bill for that?’
He told Metro previously that residents oppose the expansion ‘because the airport is in the wrong place for further increases in the number of flights.’
The airport causes ‘a lot of disruption because Luton can fly planes 24 hours a day and also because local roads and rail services are already overcrowded.’
The M1 motorway ‘frequently gets snarled up if there’s an incident,’ while the railway services ‘get very busy at peak times,’ he said.
‘None of this is good news, and it is very shortsighted to start putting all of Luton’s economic eggs in the airport basket,’ he continued.
‘Luton deserves a more diversified economy.’
Daisy Cooper MP and the deputy leader of the Lib Dems, said previously the expansion should not happen ‘before a climate emissions framework is in place, including at Luton.’
Airport expansion plans have made headlines recently after Chancellor Rachel Reeves backed the Heathrow expansion in her January growth speech, which also mentioned Luton and Gatwick proposals.
Alberto Martin, London Luton Airport’s CEO, said previously that every passenger at the airport ‘allows the local authority to invest 53p directly into local frontline services and community causes,’ which is ’20 times more than any other UK airport.’
‘Luton is now at a tipping point with a generational opportunity to boost investment in public services further, which the airport’s growth will deliver,’he added.
Luton pledged to introduce an initiative called the Green Controlled Growth framework (GCG) when the plans are approved.
It is an ‘environmentally-focused approach to managing growth’ with measures like binding limits on the airport noise, carbon, air quality and surface access like transport to the airport as these areas are the most likely to be impacted, the developer said.
The initial deadline for the Luton expansion decision was delayed from January 3 until today to give the Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander more time to consider the ‘complex’ application.
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