Fresh hope for Plymouth Airport

Campaigners fighting to save Plymouth Airport say they are optimistic about the future after a planning inspector reported she was “not minded to modify” Plymouth City Council’s policies in the Joint Local Plan safeguarding the airport for aviation use.

The FlyPlymouth group says the inspector’s final report could be out in March, making the strategy to acquire the airport at a fair market value once the Joint Local Plan process has completed “both realistic and achievable”.

“The task now is to engage with all the stakeholders to work towards a commercial transaction,” the group reported. “How long that will take is uncertain but … subject to the Plan being completed, we could achieve a transaction during the coming year.”

FlyPlymouth over the past seven years has held monthly public meetings followed by a series of quarterly meetings as the debate moved from campaigning to consultation and on to the development of new policies by the city council.

Since 2016, the group has concentrated on developing the first stage of a business plan around general and business aviation while the airport is recommissioned and worked up again.

Now, it says, the clouds could be finally beginning to shift and “Plymouth Airport's prospects are looking brighter as we enter 2019”.

www.flyplymouth.com

www.plymouth.gov.uk

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