To: The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government

Stop Airport Expansion - Call a Public Inquiry into Leeds Bradford Airport

STOP PRESS:

This morning (10th March 2022), Leeds Bradford Airport’s Chief Exec announced that he has withdrawn the airport’s planning application.

This is a victory for our climate and our communities.

It means that the airport cannot extend daytime flying hours nor remove night time flying controls. As they said in their own planning application, this means they don't have the capacity to increase passenger numbers above 5 million a year.

Here’s the key sentence, in the Environmental Statement at para 1.1.4: “The Airport is forecast to continue to grow over the next decade reaching 7 million passengers per annum by 2030, assuming that existing operational restrictions imposed by existing planning controls are amended through the current planning application.”

Well that can’t happen now!

Make no mistake, this victory is down to people power - you and the thousands of other people who signed our petition, took action, donated funds and never gave up hope that we can make the right choices today to build a better tomorrow for everyone.

We will keep a close eye on what the airport’s Australian owners do next and we will act again if they try to break any rules that limit any rise in passengers above five million. We remain vigilant and ready to continue the fight to protect our climate and communities.

But for today, we’re celebrating success! A massive ‘thank you’ for backing the campaign.

The GALBA committee

We have successfully petitioned the Secretary of State to hold a public inquiry into the expansion of Leeds Bradford airport so that the full national impact of airport expansion can be assessed.

The Public Inquiry starts on September 13th 2022. We have won the first stage of our fight by ensuring this decision is made by experts. Now we urgently need to raise funds to bring the best legal advice and experts to the inquiry.

Why is this important?

As we stand on the brink of climate and ecological breakdown, airports throughout the UK are trying to expand. Leeds Bradford, Bristol, Stansted, Manston, Southampton, Luton and Gatwick are pressing ahead with expansion plans. Supporters of each expansion claim that the increase in carbon emissions is small in a national context. However, the cumulative impact would be a huge increase in emissions at precisely the time we should be doing everything in our power to reduce them.

Leeds Bradford Airport expansion is a test case. The local authority has approved expansion, claiming that carbon emissions from international flights is not a matter for local authorities to consider! So we have called on the Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick, to order a public inquiry so that the climate impact of expansion can be assessed in a national context.

This is not just about Leeds-Bradford. Approval of this application would open the floodgates of expansion at other regional airports. The government must intervene to stop the planned expansion of regional airports if it is to meet legally binding environmental targets and avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

You can hear it from the experts. Over 200 Leeds Uni Academics already agree.
https://www.galba.uk/post/press-release-246-uni-of-leeds-staff-and-researchers-ask-robert-jenrick-to-call-in-lba-decision

Most importantly please share with your friends and family. Tell them why this matters so much to you.

Thank you from GALBA - Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport

How it will be delivered

The petition has been delivered and has been successful - showing the effectiveness of people power and the amazing campaigning skills and infrastructure of 38 Degrees.

Links

Campaign Facebook Page Campaign Website

Updates

2022-03-10 16:47:53 +0000

Petition is successful with 56,042 signatures

2021-05-17 23:57:58 +0100

50,000 signatures reached

2021-05-05 08:01:38 +0100

20,000 signatures reached

2021-05-04 16:55:15 +0100

10,000 signatures reached

2021-04-29 17:09:01 +0100

5,000 signatures reached

2021-03-21 08:37:06 +0000

1,000 signatures reached

2021-03-19 13:46:09 +0000

500 signatures reached

2021-03-18 17:42:46 +0000

100 signatures reached

2021-03-18 16:19:31 +0000

50 signatures reached

2021-03-18 15:48:24 +0000

25 signatures reached

2021-03-18 14:57:45 +0000

10 signatures reached