Another MP has come out against the Leeds Bradford Airport expansion - as decision date is set

Another West Yorkshire MP has come out in opposition to the expansion plans at Leeds Bradford Airport.

Bradford East MP Imran Hussain set out his position in a newsletter to members of the local Labour party.

He said the creation of a new £150m eco-friendly airport terminal building would “have a devastating effect on our environment and climate obligations.”He added that recent job losses at the airport were "undermining their argument for expansion, and so I have been calling on Leeds City Council…to reject the planning application for this extension in order to protect our environment and to ensure that mass redundancies are not rewarded.”

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The airport announced in October that 100 jobs were at risk, but only 36 people were eventually made redundant.

An artist's impression of the proposed Leeds Bradford Airport terminal.An artist's impression of the proposed Leeds Bradford Airport terminal.
An artist's impression of the proposed Leeds Bradford Airport terminal.

Leeds City Council's City Plans Panel will meet at 1.30pm on Thursday (February 11) to make a decision on the application.

The application states that the "dated" current terminal is "inefficient" and that LBA risks continuing to lose passengers to nearby Manchester Airport in an "unsustainable" way unless the improvements are approved.

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In March 2019, Leeds City Council declared a climate emergency and gave a commitment to make Leeds ‘net zero’ for carbon emissions by 2030.

Bradford East MP Imran Hussain (photo: SWNS).Bradford East MP Imran Hussain (photo: SWNS).
Bradford East MP Imran Hussain (photo: SWNS).

All five Leeds Labour MPs, as well as Bradford West MP Naz Shah, have said they oppose the airport's plan.

Previous plans to revamp the airport’s capacity, approved by Leeds City Council in early 2019, had included blueprints to extend its existing terminal.

But the airport later updated it plans, moving the proposed new terminal to a different position within the airport’s boundary.

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The Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (GALBA) have opposed the plans throughout.

Chris Foren, chair of GALBA, said: “We now know that a decision on LBA’s planning application will be made on 11 February.

"We hope that Leeds Labour councillors on the City Plans Panel realise that airport expansion cannot be allowed.

"Imran Hussain has joined Naz Shah and all five Leeds Labour MPs - Alex Sobel, Hilary Benn, Rachel Reeves, Richard Burgon and Fabian Hamilton - in publicly opposing LBA’s planning application.

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"They all understand that we have the duty and the opportunity to protect our climate and that we urgently need to help people move out of high carbon industries into safe and sustainable jobs.”

Mr Foren added: “It would be plane crazy to allow the airport to double its greenhouse gas emissions in the middle of the climate emergency.

"Scientists all over the world are urging us to cut emissions as fast as we can. We have the power to tackle the climate crisis by making the right choices now.”

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