Leeds council wins night flight battle with airport

We welcome a public inquiry decision which will limit the number of night-time flights allowed in and out of Leeds. This council decision was upheld by the Planning Inspector against Leeds Bradford Airport’s appeal.

These are the 'CLEUD' applications we wrote about previously.

You may remember we organised a big public meeting with Vincent Hodder, attended by over 100 local residents.

Though as councillors we have no formal powers over the airport, we have put a lot of work into getting more transparency from the airport and supporting local campaigners with their Planning Complaints.

What will the impact be?

It should mean fewer night flights, and finally more clarity for us when it comes to taking enforcement action on LBA.

We will share a fuller, plainer English version of the below - probably next week.

More info

In December 2023, Leeds Bradford Airport submitted applications for ‘certificates of lawful use or development’ (CLEUDs).

Leeds Bradford Airport have a cap on the number of night flights they are allowed, and the application for these CLEUDs was to clarify whether certain aeroplanes and flights contributed towards that cap or not.

Leeds City Council rejected these CLEUDs, arguing that all these flights should count.

The airport appealed these decisions to the Planning Inspectorate, which is independent public body and can make rulings which can overturn and reject Leeds City Council’s decisions. A formal public inquiry was then held earlier this year where Leeds City Council defended its case.

The planning inspectorate has now confirmed that two of these appeals have been dismissed, agreeing with Leeds City Council’s interpretation of the planning conditions, and a third upheld, overruling Leeds City Council.

The applications were considered on the basis of legal and technical arguments, relating to night-time flight movements.

Below is a summary of each judgement, alongside some initial comments from the Leeds City Council planning directorate.

As this is a recent publication, this is all the information there is right now. Once we know what further steps will be taken and in what time frame, we will post further updates.

********

Appeal A Ref: APP/N4720/X/24/3354210

DISMISSED

• The application ref 23/07490/CLE is dated 14 December 2023.

• The use for which a certificate of lawful use or development is sought is described as: “Confirmation of immunity against enforcement of Conditions 6(a), 6(b) and 6(c) of the Permission in respect of the prohibition of night-time movements of aircraft with a quota count of 0.25, based on ten years of continuous breach.”

LCC initial comments

The Inspector’s interpretation of Condition 6 (a)-(d) means the landing and departure of QC 0.25 aircraft during night-time hours is not permitted, unless and until an application for QC 0.25 approval is submitted and approved pursuant to Condition 6 (c).

_____

Appeal B Ref: APP/N4720/X/24/3354216

ALLOWED

• The application ref 23/07491/CLE, dated 14 December 2023, was refused by notice dated

21 March 2024.

• The use for which a certificate of lawful use or development is sought is described as: “Regardless of the cap on movements in condition 7, it is lawful for aircraft to take-off and land at Leeds Bradford Airport, during the hours of 2300-0700 where they fall within the definition of “Exempt Aircraft” in NOTAM s45/1993 i.e. (a) those aircraft with a maximum certified weight not exceeding 11,600 kg; and, (b) those propellor aircraft; which, on the basis of their noise data are classed as less than 87 EPNdB and which are indicated as exempt in Part 2 of the Schedule to the NOTAM S45/1993 Notice.”

LCC initial comments

This means that aircraft falling within the exempt aircraft definition of the 1993 NOTAM are able to land/depart during night-time hours, without counting towards the night-time flight movement cap. The 1993 NOTAM definition of exempt aircraft is slightly less restrictive than the definition in the current NOTAM used by the Council, meaning more aircraft will need to be deemed exempt.

_____

Appeal C Ref: APP/N4720/X/24/3354218

DISMISSED

• The application ref 23/07493/CLE dated 14 December 2023, was refused by notice dated

21 March 2024.

• The use for which a certificate of lawful use or development is sought is described as: “It is lawful for any aircraft, regardless of quota count and regardless of the cap on movements in condition 7, to land at the airport in the following circumstances: (a) delayed landings up to 0100 hours by aircraft scheduled to land at Leeds Bradford Airport between 0700 hours and 2300 hours; and (b) any emergency flights, i.e. a flight where there is an immediate danger to life or health, whether human or animal, are permitted.”

LCC initial comments

This means that the Council’s interpretation in respect of this condition is correct and that it is not lawful (as suggested by LBA) for all aircraft, regardless of quota count to make delayed landings up to 01:00 and emergency movements at any time (without counting towards the night-time movement cap). In practice, this means around 20 delayed flights a year will count towards the total night-time movement cap.