Ex Principle planning Inspector tells Public Inquiry that application for Lydd Airport's expansion should be refused
The UK's former Principal Planning Inspector Anthony Bingham TD Dipl Arch ARIBA MRTPI told a shocked meeting of the public inquiry today:
"In the whole of my career I have never encountered proposals that are so contrary to so many planning policies". I urge the Inspector to come to the same conclusion and to recommend refusal of the application to the Secretary of State".
Mr Bingham, now retired, had earlier told the meeting that he has over 50 years of experience in the planning and development industry and had worked with various planning authorities, Including Shepway District council. He explained that he had worked in the Planning Inspectorate, the body which is responsible for conducting planning inquiries, for over 35 years, and had held the position of Principal Inspector for over ten years.
He supported his highly critical statement with a very detailed review of the provisions included in Shepway District Council's Local plans which had been cited by the Council's planning witness Terry Ellames earlier on in the inquiry.
Mr Bingham took time to review the proposals against over twenty specific policies and demonstrated in a calm authoritative way how the plans which Shepway have approved, fail to satisfy the planning policies which they themselves wrote and adopted.
In his summing up he also asked the Inspector to look at nearby Manston Airport , which already has a long runway, large modern passenger handling facilities, is served by better road and rail connections than Lydd yet remains under utilised. In his view, which was shared by many of the people attending the meeting, Manston could provide any additional capacity which may be required in Kent without harming sites of nature conservation or contradicting so many planning directives or policies.
