Campaigners opposed to the expansion of Bristol Airport are taking their fight to the High Court after raising more than £20,000 to challenge the Planning Inspectorate's decision to allow the development.
The Bristol Airport Action Network (BAAN) has launched a legal appeal against the approval, which would increase the airport's capacity from ten million to 12 million passengers per year. Government planning inspectors granted permission in February after the plans were rejected by North Somerset Council in 2020 on environmental grounds.
BAAN argues the expansion will harm local communities and the environment, citing increased road traffic, noise and air pollution, and an inevitable rise in carbon emissions. Stephen Clarke from the group said: 'This decision is so damaging for the local people and the climate that it simply cannot be allowed to stand unchallenged.'
North Somerset Council declined to pursue its own legal challenge, with leader Don Davies stating that a High Court challenge could only succeed if inspectors were shown to have erred in law, and that the council could not justify risking more public money on an unlikely outcome.
Bristol Airport chief executive Dave Lees defended the expansion, saying it would reduce road journeys to London airports and that the airport would work with the community to deliver sustainable growth.
