Durham Tees Airport bosses set for highways meeting
04.02.06
Durham Tees Valley Airport bosses are to meet road chiefs next week in a row over a vital new road junction. Peel Airports have £20m expansion plans for the airport - but these depend on the Highways Agency investing in a new junction on the A66 to handle airport traffic.
Airport managers submitted their original planning application, along with a traffic assessment, on the presumption that the junction at Longnewton would be built first. But then the agency asked for a new traffic assessment based on the junction not getting built.
Richard Whitehouse, airport commercial manager, said: 'Why are they asking us to submit a revised traffic assessment? From our point of view, there's a contradiction, so we are seeking clarification on that point.'
A Highways Agency spokeswoman confirmed that work on the junction was due to begin during the 2006/07 financial year and said it hoped to resolve outstanding issues at next week's meeting.
The agency said it has asked for the new traffic assessment because, until contracts are signed for work on the junction to go ahead, it is 'duty bound'to consider the airport's planning application not only on the basis of what infrastructure is expected to be in place, but also on the basis of current infrastructure.
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