Rejection of Bristol Airport park and ride plan appealed

Developers have appealed a decision to reject plans for a 3,000-car park and ride for Bristol Airport.

Planning permission for the site on the A370, near Weston-super-Mare, was refused by North Somerset Council.

It said developers, JB Pearce, failed to show the need for the parking and there were concerns over noise levels.

However, Amanda Sutherland, solicitor for JB Pearce, said developers were "very confident" they would succeed with the appeal.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the appeal will be heard in a planning inquiry that will begin on 30 November.

The council cited 11 different reasons for the rejection, including concerns over the risk of flooding at the site.

But Ms Sutherland said she had been told that only four of the 11 reasons would be argued at the inquiry.

She said: "There is a gap to meet the parking demand. We consider that our scheme meets that gap, we are going to do it sustainably and we are reducing the impact of the traffic congestion on the local road network."

Although the park and ride would serve the airport, the developer is a third party acting independently.

Parking is a major revenue stream for Bristol Airport, which previously opposed plans for a similar scheme by a different developer.

The airport is also involved in its own planning battle as it seeks to grow its capacity from 10 million passengers a year to 12 million.

It was originally refused permission for its expansion plans by North Somerset Council in 2020, but this was overturned on appeal in February.

Campaigners will now take the issue to the High Court, which will hear the case in Bristol on 7 November.

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