Wolverhampton Airport Consultative Committee
Wolverhampton Airport Consultative Committee
Wednesday 14th June 2017 at 3pm
In the Boardroom, Wolverhampton Halfpenny Green Airport
Attending:
Mr M Boot Wolverhampton Airport
Mr C Crane Black Country Chamber of Commerce
Cllr Mrs M Bond South Staffordshire Council
Mrs L Hingley CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England)
Cllr B Snelson Bobbington Parish Council
Cllr H Williams Kinver Parish Council
Cllr S Harrison Trysull & Seisdon Parish Council
Cllr A Peace Wombourne Parish Council
Mrs V Partridge South Staffordshire Partnership
Cllr V Wilson Staffordshire County Council
Mr E Fox South Staffordshire Council
Cllr R Painter Swindon Parish Council
1. Welcome and Introductions
C Crane opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the meeting and for the benefit of all present everyone gave a brief introduction as to who they were and which organisation they represented.
V Partridge was also asked to give a brief background as to the purpose of the committee.
2. Apologies
Cllr N Adams Enville Parish Council
Cllr I Rees Bobbington Parish Council
Cllr M Hill Claverley Parish Council
Cllr T Woodward Shropshire County Council
3. Appointment of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman
The committee agreed that Mr Crane (Black Country Chamber of Commerce) should continue as Chairman, with the vice chairman role also being provided by the Black Country Chamber of Commerce.
4. Appointment of the Honorary Secretary
Committee members agreed that Mrs V Partridge should continue in her role.
5. Minutes of last meeting (December 2016)
Instrument Approach – Cllr Snelson asked what system would be used when the airport was closed and how landings were officially recorded?
M Boot stated that out of hours movements were monitored by use of resident pilots notifying intentions prior to closure and then confirming timings etc. after the event. Beyond this it is very difficult at best to secure the airport and control unauthorised movement during airport closure times.
L Hingley asked for an update on the Instrument Approach consultation. M Boot advised that the consultation deadline had been extended by a further 2 months to further publicise to a wider audience. The new deadline for responses was the 15th August 2017. The consultation document had also been added to the front page of the airport’s website: http://www.wolverhamptonairport.co.uk/.
Cllr Snelson asked whether the meeting would be given any feedback from the consultation? M Boot said he would look into this.
6. Airport Update:
a) Aviation Update and Statistics on Usage
C Crane had recently met with a representative from MCR Property Group to discuss their plans for the airport. He advised that the owners were considering all options of what would be best for the airport in terms of future income and investments. They hope to have carried out their initial study by Autumn 2017.
L Hingley asked about the potential re-siting of the Café to make it more accessible.
Cllr Painter said that local residents would be concerned about potential housing developments. M Boot advised that the owners were looking to further develop the airport through expanding the amount and range of onsite businesses and also the flying schools. Also, the industrial units and Hangar usage to ensure maximum usage of space.
Cllr Painter asked whether there would be any changes to the type of aircraft using the airport? M Boot replied saying that this was still being looked at.
Runway 1028 was currently not in use as it was being resurfaced.
The airport had recently reviewed their fire training procedure and had
consulted with South Staffordshire Council who were happy with the
procedures in place.
b) Complaints
There had been 4 complaints between March and June which were all dealt with promptly. A request was made that the location of complaints were always on the report so that Committee members could note if any were in their parish.
7. Matters raised by Committee Members
Cllr Snelson asked if aircraft using the airfield for refuelling purposes could be mindful of horses in the surrounding fields. M Boot would look at the runways concerned.
L Hingley asked if the airport had been involved in Cosford Airshow? M Boot responded saying that some of their airspace was used and that a Hurricane aircraft had landed at the airport during that weekend of the show.
8. Any Other Business
None
9. Dates of future meetings 2017/18:
· Wednesday 13th September 2017 (Virtual)
· Wednesday 13th December 2017 at 3pm (at the airport)
· Wednesday 14th March 2018 (virtual meeting)
· Wednesday 13th June 2018 (AGM – 3pm at airport)
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