Airfield owner accuses council of a ‘bureaucratic blitzkrieg’

THE owner of an airfield at the centre of a protracted legal battle has condemned a North Yorkshire council for a “bureaucratic blitzkrieg” which is leading to a second public inquiry in the space of just over a year.

Residents living near to Bagby Airfield, near Thirsk, have staged a hard-fought campaign throughout the last four years to prevent a major development of the site.

A public inquiry which was held in March last year found that air traffic at the site has exceeded legal targets for the past decade.

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Hambleton District Council has issued a series of enforcement notices to halt development of the airfield and the change of use of hangars.

The owner of the airfield, Martin Scott, has launched an appeal against 13 enforcement notices which is due to be considered at another public inquiry in May.

Mr Scott maintained he has had to revise initial plans for a £3m hotel and spa which he claimed would have attracted wealthy entrepreneurs and served racehorse owners from as far afield as the Middle East who fly into North Yorkshire to look for new thoroughbreds.

And he stressed that the economic slump has seen the number of flights actually reduce in recent years since he bought the airfield.

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The Yorkshire Air Ambulance has one of its two aircraft based at Bagby, with the other at Leeds Bradford International Airport, although it is looking to relocate its North Yorkshire operations to Topcliffe.

Mr Scott, who works as a solicitor in Leeds, said: “The people who are living near the airfield appear to be suffering from a bout of selective amnesia.

“There were no complaints about aircraft activity before my planning application was submitted, but now they are outraged at what is being proposed.

“I have not increased the number of flights at the airfield – a lot of people simply don’t have the time or money to fly these days.

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“I have been faced with a bureaucratic blitzkrieg from the council – it is quite unprecedented. If these enforcement notices are successful, then the airfield will have to close.”

Campaigners have accused Hambleton District Council of a “catastrophic failure” to enforce planning controls at the airfield.

A planning inspector’s report published in June last year after the first public inquiry revealed that between 73 and 125 air traffic movements have been recorded a week at the site.

Some of the movements contravened a ruling set in 1980 restricting the number of air traffic movements to 80 per week.

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Members of the Action4Refusal campaign group lodged an official complaint with the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) in December 2010 against the council.

A spokeswoman for the LGO confirmed yesterday that provisional findings had been supplied to the council and objectors and it was awaiting their comments before publishing a final ruling.

Stephen Hornsby, who lodged the complaint, works in London as a solicitor but also owns a home in Great Thirkleby, near the airfield.

He travels up each weekend to his North Yorkshire property, where his wife Anne and son Peter, who attends Ampleforth School, live.

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He said: “We do believe that the council has not monitored the situation closely enough. If the development is permitted to go-ahead, it will ruin the local area - it is simply not needed and simply not wanted.”

The council’s head of regulatory services at the council, Maurice Cann, confirmed enforcement notices had been issued. Consultants have also been commissioned to monitor the number of flights at the airfield, and a report is expected to be compiled by Easter.

Mr Cann added: “This is a complex issue, but the council takes its planning responsibilities extremely seriously.

“We are attempting to work with all parties involved to ensure it can be resolved successfully.”