Newham Council has granted planning permission for a £200m expansion of the London City Airport, in a move that could see the airport triple in size by 2023.
The plan is to make the airport ready to accommodate larger aircraft so routes can be extended beyond Western Europe into Eastern Europe and North Africa.
The proposals are subject to no less than 131 separate conditions set by council officers to help reduce the potential impact of the development, which will also include a 260-bedroom hotel.
Conditions include limiting the number of permitted actual flights to 111,000 a year and limiting the number of morning and evening flights, the construction of a noise barrier on the site and rules on when construction work can take place.
A package of soundproofing for residents affected during construction was also set, including a commitment from the airport to pay 100% of the costs of soundproofing measures for residents most impacted by the noise.
On top of this, a section 106 agreement will see the airport commit £6.8m towards employment, education and training in the borough, with further funding to bolster transport services including a bus turnaround at the new Custom House Crossrail station and opening Hartmann Road to all transport types.
Chairman of the council’s strategic development committee, Cllr Lester Hudson, said: ‘It was a fine balance for the committee to make the decision considering the amount of disruption that the construction will cause to residents.
'Additional measures have been secured through this planning application, which will mitigate the disruption during construction and aircraft noise after completion. We have also been assured that through the reduction in actual flight numbers to 111,000 a year we are also ensuring a reduction in the potential amount of air and noise pollution residents would have been faced with. This will be closely monitored.’
Having been given the green light through the committee, as with many major planning decisions the proposals will now be referred to the mayor of London with final approval granted by the secretary of state.
Airport chief executive Declan Collier said the decision was a ‘great result for the capital’.
