Plans for £150m Leeds Bradford Airport expansion recommended for approval

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Artists impression of the new terminal

The expansion of Leeds Bradford Airport should be approved by council decision-makers, a report by planning experts has recommended.

A final decision is set to be made on the future of the airport at a meeting next week, following more than a year of protests and controversy around the proposals for a new £150m terminal and runway at the site in Yeadon.

The plans have divided opinion, with almost 2,000 people writing to Leeds City Council urging them to reject the plans, and almost 1,300 writing in support of the expansion.

Environmental campaigners and climate academics had warned flights in and out of Leeds needed to dramatically reduce in order to help humanity have a fighting chance of averting climate catastrophe in the coming years.

Council planning officers have now set out their recommendation in a report to the authority's City Plans Panel that suggests they approve the blueprints, albeit with 50 conditions on the developers.

A final decision on the plans is expected to be made on Thursday 11 February

During a meeting in September 2019, Leeds University PHD researcher Jefim Vogel gave a presentation to the council's Climate Emergency Committee, where he claimed air passenger numbers at the airport needed to reduce by three quarters before 2030 to fend off the threat to civilisation posed by climate change.

Since then, a number of protests have taken place, with campaigners famously staging a "die-in", which disrupted a planning meeting in January 2020.

The report from Leeds City Council officers going to the Plans Panel said the climate impact of the new terminal itself would be lower than the current airport building, claiming the issue of carbon emissions from flights needed to be dealt with at a national level.

It added:

"Further, the carbon budget for LBA flights would still not be exceeded by the development. It has been demonstrated (without the flights), that the scheme will reduce the amount of carbon production that the existing situation which will help for Leeds to achieve its zero carbon by 2030."

It added that "noise-mitigation" measures would include "the provision of appropriate additional insulation of properties at no cost to residents/householders."

And, while the plans do meet the criteria for "inappropriate development" on the green belt, council officers argue this meets the test for "special circumstances, adding: "Officers have concluded that the significant economic benefits, and reduction in carbon emissions due to the new terminal and ground operations, as well as the benefits arising from improved passenger experience do clearly outweigh the harm to the Green Belt and the other harms that have been identified within the report."

A final decision on the plans is expected to be made at a meeting of Leeds City Council's City Plans Panel on Thursday 11 February.

Some of the conditions Leeds City Council plans to put in place for the airport, should it be approved, include:

  • Samples of materials used in the development to be submitted to the council.

  • Plans for nearby landscaping to be submitted to the council, as well as a commitment for no trees, hedges, bushes or trees to be removed that are not shown on the approved plans. It adds any that die within five years must be replaced at LBA's cost.

  • Hours of construction to be 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 1pm on a Saturday only.

  • Details of measures to treat odour and fumes from the fuel farm and refuelling activities to be submitted to the council.

  • A Biodiversity Environmental Management Plan including a landscaping management plan which includes monitoring for a minimum of 30 years to be submitted.