The London Borough of Bromley’s legal move to block plans to turn Kent’s famous Biggin Hill World War II fighter base into an executive airport has won the backing of the House of Lords.
In May last year, the Appeal Court overturned a High Court decision which ruled that chartered and scheduled services could legally use the airport.
The Appeal Court ruling has been upheld by the Law Lords. In a decision before Christmas and just published, Lords Nicholls, Hutton and Rodger have refused permission for Biggin Hill Airport to appeal against it.
The company has already invested £4m on its plans to make Biggin Hill a luxury terminal for business passengers.
However, the council claims that chartered and scheduled flights for individual business passengers fall outside the terms of the lease. The council also fears that the scheme would result in unacceptable noise levels.
The airport company had argued that chartered and scheduled flights were permissible so long as their primary purpose was to transport passengers for business. In the High Court in November 2000 the judge agreed that the terms of the lease were wide enough.
The airport company took a 125-year lease on the site in 1994. It has spent £525,000 on a new terminal, while the runway has been refurbished and air traffic control and emergency facilities have been improved
It was anticipated that by the year 2003, the airport would handle more than 8,000 charter and scheduled flights each year, carrying more than 80,000 passengers.
EGi News 21/01/02
