Manchester Airport car park plans rejected
10.07.07
Plans by Manchester Airport to build a 1500 space car park on to green belt land which it owns in Cheshire have been rejected by a government planning inspector, who supported the objections of Macclesfield Borough Council.
Macclesfield Borough Council knew it faced a difficult and expensive public inquiry when it rejected the airport's plans for a 1500 space car park on green belt land within council boundaries in 2005. The airport is unaccustomed to planning battles: Manchester City Council, which owns 55% of the plc's shares, has a vested interest in its expansion and has permitted car park and airport hotel developments on green belt land within its own boundaries.
Despite a tough grilling at the public inquiry from the airport's barrister, senior Macclesfield planning officer John Knight expressed dismay at the airport's failure to invest in public transport, which would remove the need for a large car park.
The council's chief planning officer, Peter Yates, said yesterday that the planning inspector's decision sent a message to British airports. He said: 'Some see the [sites] they own as land to develop exactly as they want to. This [result] is a positive statement for the future of green belt and a demonstration that there will not be a laissez-faire approach for development. It is a good result for the planning system.'
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