After a vote in the Eastleigh Local Area Committee, plans for the expansion of the runway at Southampton Airport have been rejected. The vote was close, with 3 people voting in favour and 5 people voting to reject the plans.
The issue was debated by this committee for nearly 17 hours. The major issue that led to the ultimate rejection of the plans was the impact on the local committee. The extension to the runway would see 34,000 local people who weren’t previously affected by aircraft noise be subject to it. Additionally, the increased number of aircraft could have an impact on their health, which would inevitably impact the NHS.
Eastleigh’s MP, Paul Holmes was left ‘disappointed’ by the rejection of the plans and is urging the full council to vote in favour of the expansion plans, when a full council meeting is held. He said:
Members of the committee have chosen to ignore the advice of their own professional and technical experts who recommended approving the application with suitable mitigation.
The decision will be referred to Full Council. I call on all Councillors to seize this opportunity to make the right decision, save our airport and protect people’s livelihoods.
Failure to do so will be a slap in the face to the people of Eastleigh who overwhelming supported the runway extension to their local airport.
Paul Holmes, MP for Eastleigh
The issue will be further discussed in a meeting by the full council on 8th April.
