Bristol Airport car park wins court closure battle
26.11.09
An off site Bristol Airport car park has won a High Court battle against an attempt to shut it down, the Evening Post reports. Bristol Park & Fly offers parking for up to 1,200 cars at Langford Mushroom Farm, Stock Lane, Langford, as an alternative to the airport's own parking seven miles away.
In June 2007, the company applied to North Somerset Council for planning permission to legitimise the operation, which was already in operation. The council refused the application in October that same year on the grounds it was against its parking policy and issued an enforcement notice, demanding the company cease parking cars there.
Bristol Park & Fly appealed against the notice to a Government planning inspector, seeking a temporary grant of planning permission for 3 years, but he rejected the appeal in September last year. The company then took its case to the High Court, and yesterday won the right to a new planning appeal. Deputy Judge Robert Jay ordered a fresh reconsideration of the application by a different planning inspector.
Bristol Park & Fly argued the original inspector misdirected himself, erred in law and failed to give an adequate explanation why the company could not appeal. The company said the airport was expected to handle up to 9 million passengers a year by 2015 and the 9,085 parking spaces at the airport would not be enough to meet the demand. It argued the airport would require 17,835 spaces by 2015. Judge Jay said the inspector wrongly failed to take into account what need there would be for additional spaces by 2011, which was the relevant question for a temporary 3 year permission.
The council is against using the site for airport parking on the basis it does not meet its policy that such parking should be within the operational area of the airport, associated with hotels, or within the settlement boundary of Weston-super-Mare, where it can be connected to the public transport network. The airport itself has included plans for up to 18,000 spaces as part of its expansion scheme.
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