Bristol Airport support 'incompatible' with Weca plan

A councillor has urged the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) to abandon its support of Bristol Airport's planned expansion.

Sarah Warren, of Bath and North East Somerset Council, said backing the project was "incompatible" with Weca's declaration of a climate emergency.

The combined authority insists action to tackle climate change is embedded in everything it does.

Bristol Airport has appealed the decision to reject its expansion plans.

Weca combined authority, comprising Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol city and South Gloucestershire councils, approved a climate emergency plan on 9 October.

Despite also declaring a climate emergency last year with a commitment for the region to be net carbon zero by 2030, Ms Warren said the action plan needed to be more ambitious.

"Weca needs to change its position supporting the expansion of Bristol Airport, which is simply incompatible with its declaration of climate emergency and the ecological emergencies declared by all of Weca's constituent authorities.

"The pandemic has damaged the air transport industry, and while this has sadly led to job losses, it presents an opportunity to restructure our local economy away from highly carbon-emitting fields and into new sectors."

Weca has also agreed a multi-million pound coronavirus recovery plan aimed at rebuilding the region's economy, protecting jobs and retraining workers, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

West of England mayor Tim Bowles said the recovery plan and climate emergency plan were closely interlinked.

"Both plans support the significant investment we're committed to across innovation, public transport, cycling and walking, supporting businesses and residents' transition to low-carbon ways of doing things."

Bristol Airport wants to expand its capacity from 10 million to 12 million passengers per year. A ruling over its appeal will be made by an independent planning inspector.