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NEWQUAY CORNWALL AIRPORT Local Development Order Statement of Reasons NEWQUAY CORNWALL AIRPORT - LOCAL DEVELOPMENT ORDER STATEMENT OF REASONS 1.1 Introduction Article 34 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure)(Order) 2010 (DMPO) paragraph (1) outlines that ‘where a local planning authority propose to make a local development order (LDO) they shall first prepare— (a) a draft of the order; and (b) a statement of their reasons for making the order’. A draft of the LDO is provided at Appendix A. Article 34 paragraph (2) of the DMPO states that ‘the statement of reasons shall contain— (a) a description of the development which the order would permit; and (b) a plan or statement identifying the land to which the order would relate’. The text in this document acts as the statement of reasons for making the LDO. A plan identifying the land to which the LDO relates is attached at Appendix B. 1.2 Background Regional airports are major economic drivers; the connectivity they provide improves both the prosperity and competitiveness of a region. Airports are particularly important in peripheral sub-regions like Cornwall, where transport infrastructure and distances from key markets can be a real business constraint, affecting growth, productivity and competitiveness. Newquay Cornwall Airport (NCA) has the capacity to bridge that infrastructure gap, opening up Cornwall to wider opportunity and to assist it to realise its full economic potential. Its continued operation and growth is supported both at a national level in the 2003 Air Transport White Paper, and at a local level through Cornwall Council’s Economic White Paper, Newquay Airport Master Plan 2008, the Cornwall Structure Plan 2004 alongside the Council’s evolving Core Strategy and associated documentation. The links it supports to wider UK, European and International business centres and markets are vital for the wider business community in Cornwall. The airport has significant space and capacity for growth and offers some unique selling points, which include a runway in excess of 2700 metres at the centre of a 325 hectare estate. It has the ability to deliver projects that are transformational in nature. NCA, with its extensive opportunities for renewable energy sources, has the potential to become carbon neutral. Furthermore, it is working closely with partners through the Airport Environment Steering Group, to achieve high standards of environmental sustainability. The airport is a significant Council owned asset, delivering not only improved connectivity but a huge opportunity for Cornwall to grow an embryonic aeronautical cluster and other airport related business activity. Major opportunities exist to develop and grow the airport in a sustainable manner both in terms of its passenger market but also in what will become the focal point of the airport’s future business development, associated aviation related activities such as aircraft maintenance, engineering and training. Over the next three years, there is the opportunity to increase sustainable passenger numbers from the existing level of 300,000 passengers per annum. The current economic climate is a major challenge for the airport, therefore the priority is to work to sustain these current passenger levels and then prepare for modest future passenger growth. More importantly, there is considerable scope to develop major aviation related activities to make use of the capacity of the whole aerodrome site. There is the opportunity for delivering significant numbers of quality, high value and highly skilled jobs many of which will be within the knowledge economy. It is envisaged that both a fixed and rotary wing aeronautical cluster will be delivered at the airport using both existing and new buildings. This cluster would be supported by an industry led training academy, which will address the skill gap that exists within the industry both nationally and locally. NCA has already delivered significant economic impacts from both jobs directly linked to the airport and other related activities. This includes the number of people directly employed at the airport, as well as on-site companies. These companies now account for almost 270 permanent on-site Full Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs at NCA. NCA wants to build upon this important base and believes significant numbers of quality, high value and highly skilled jobs will be delivered on the aerodrome and adjacent development sites. In five years it is hoped that over 500 jobs will be created in direct aerospace activity on the southern side of the airport. Such “airport” activities will be further supported and grown in the medium term through the delivery of an airport business park on land adjacent to the south side of the airport. This, together with the possible delivery of other business infrastructure such as hotels and conference/meeting facilities, needs to be looked at dependant upon demand and existing supply. In addition to business activity and travel, the airport offers major benefits to the tourism sector via in bound tourism and provides services and forms a vital part of the infrastructure for key links to life line services such as those to the Isles of Scilly. 1.3 Why a Local Development Order (LDO) Cornwall Council has been working with Cornwall Airport Limited (CAL) and Cornwall Development Company (CDC) regarding the production and adoption of a LDO covering aviation related development at NCA. Unlike privately owned airports, permitted development rights granted by Classes A, B, C and I of Part 18 of Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995, as amended through the Transport Act 2000 (Consequential Amendments) Order 2001 (the ‘GPDO’), can not be executed at NCA. This is because CAL does not constitute a "relevant airport operator" under Part 18 as the airport is owned by Cornwall Council and such rights do not accrue where airports are owned by a principal Council in England. The purpose of the LDO is to authorise development within Classes A, B and I of Part 18 of Schedule 2 of the GPDO subject to the additional thresholds in the LDO. The LDO will thereby place NCA on a level playing field with privately owned airports in England. It should be noted that it is not the intention to include developments authorise through Class C as this Class relates to other ‘operational land’ outside of the airport boundary. In the case of NCA at present there is only a small area of said ‘operational land’. As there is unlikely to be future development on this land and due to the complexities involved in ensuring full consultation as in theory new land could be brought under the operation land definition in the future, this Class has been removed from the final LDO. The proposal for the LDO was presented to the Airport Development Panel on the 14 July 2010 and the NCA Consultative Forum held on 9 August 2010. On the 10 December 2010 the LDO was reported to Cornwall Council’s Cabinet – Planning Policy Advisory Panel (PPAP) and received approval from members to formally consult subject to a decision on a screening opinion request as to whether the LDO was required to be accompanied by an Environmental Statement (see para 1.6 below). A successful bid for pilot funding through the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) has provided a funding resource to consult upon and develop the LDO document. There are a number of key drivers behind the LDO in that it will: enable NCA to operate on a level playing field with privately owned airports in attracting business investment and carrying out operational developments; provide a comprehensive outline of all development that is permitted across the Airport, without the need for further express planning permission; enable and facilitate economic development and allow growth to happen rapidly without further planning constraint allowing the airport to react quickly to economic growth opportunities; enable the airport to rapidly respond accordingly to the requirements of operators, regulators and passengers to maintain high standards of service and safety; Allows the operational airport to remain competitive and reduce costs; establish a framework for the overall development on the airport which can promote and communicate a clear policy to stakeholders; build up confidence in and inform the community of future developments at the airport; Reduce the burden on the local planning authority, especially in dealing with applications for operational infrastructure that, but for the Council owning the airport, would otherwise be permitted development; Improve the quality and sustainability of development; and Improve investor and occupier certainty and confidence 1.4 LDO process The process governing the preparation and implementation of Local Development Orders is set out in guidance contained in DCLG Circular 01/2006 ‘Guidance on Changes to the Development Control System’. The image attached provides a summary of the process to be followed. 1.5 Development within the operational area Unlike privately owned UK airports and their operators, NCA does not benefit from the ability to carry out the operational developments authorised through Classes A, B and I of Part 18 of the GPDO, within its site boundary without the need to obtain planning permission. As a result, over the past three years, as airport development activity focused on the transfer of functions from the former RAF St. Mawgan air base, it was required to make formal planning applications for all development regardless of need and size. Between 2006 – 2009, 15 planning applications were submitted in relation to development at the airport. This has resulted in a number of delays, due to the preparation of planning submissions and as a result of the statutory planning process. Should the airport continue without the ability to respond as private airport operators to the commercial market and its own operational requirement, there is a risk that the delays in obtaining planning permission for improvements to the airfield may have an adverse effect upon the ability of the airport to respond efficiently to the commercial market, the needs of operators, passengers and regulators.

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