Bristol Airport expansion opponents launch fundraising appeal for legal challenge

A partnership comprising Bristol Airport Action Network (BAAN) and Save Felton Common has launched a fundraising campaign to support legal and expert advice from Leigh Day Solicitors in relation to the airport’s latest expansion proposals.

The groups said Bristol Airport had already secured permission in 2022 to increase passenger numbers by 2 million a year, and is now seeking a further increase of 3 million passengers annually alongside an additional 1,000 night flights between midnight and 6am.

Bristol Airport has previously said that expanding the airport would see around £500 million invested in improvements at the airport and local infrastructure, while providing more destinations.

It also pointed to YouGov polling that suggested more people in the West of England backed the plans than opposed it, with 44% expressing support compared with 24% in opposition.

The two campaign groups have meanwhile raised concerns over the application’s impact on registered common land, noting that the airport is proposing to install a 400-metre strip of landing lights, access roads and associated infrastructure on part of Felton Common.

On its Crowd Justice page online, the campaign groups claimed the proposals would require three separate but interlinked approval processes:

• planning permission from the local planning authority;
• a compulsory purchase order (CPO) process because the parish council which owns the land is refusing to sell it; and
• an application to the Secretary of State to deregister the land as common land.

The groups said: “This is a very unusual legal situation with three separate but interlinked processes and it has rarely happened before in the UK.”

They added that the outcome could have implications beyond the airport expansion itself, arguing that approval could “be a green light for other large corporations to get access to common land for commercial purposes”.

The campaign groups said they were seeking advice from their legal team at Leigh Day Solicitors on “the best strategy from a legal and policy perspective to stop the airport expanding” as well as the legal protections applying to the common land.

Bristol Airport has been approached for comment.

Adam Carey