Paul May challenges Bristol Airport plans for 100,000 flights
Bristol Airport is seeking planning permission from North Somerset Council to expand to 100,000 flights per year, while Bath and North East Somerset councillor Paul May says villages on the far side of the boundary have been left out of the assessment. The boundary between the two council areas is, at its closest point, 830 metres from the end of the runway.
May told a council meeting in Bath that the airport looks at nine North Somerset villages but not communities in Bath and North East Somerset to the south and east of the airport. The airport has said it has taken potentially affected areas in Bath and North East Somerset into account.
Paul May in Bath
May, the councillor for Publow with Whitchurch, said the plans fail to take noise and traffic impacts into account on villages outside the North Somerset boundary. His criticism focuses on the way the airport has drawn the area it says could be affected, with the runway only 830 metres from the council line at its nearest point.
He said: "The airport recognises the impact and noise impacts on nine North Somerset villages but do not consider any villages in Bath and North East Somerset to the south and east of the airport."
North Somerset Council plan
The application now sits with North Somerset Council, which will decide whether Bristol Airport can move ahead with the rise to 100,000 flights a year. That figure is the scale of the change May is challenging, because it would put more aircraft movement under a single planning decision while leaving debate over which villages belong in the impact area.
The airport has insisted it has taken potentially affected areas in Bath and North East Somerset into account. May's objection means the council will have to weigh not only the size of the expansion, but also whether the assessment reached beyond the communities the airport listed.
Boundary near the runway
The narrow gap between the runway and the council boundary is central to the dispute. At 830 metres, the line between North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset leaves little distance before flight-related noise and traffic concerns reach villages on the other side.
For residents in Publow with Whitchurch and other nearby villages, the practical issue is whether the planning process treats them as part of the affected area. The next decision rests with North Somerset Council, and the argument over which communities count in the assessment will shape how that application is judged.
