North Somerset Council finally backed the development, voting 4-3 in favour. Glad its gone through but I'm becoming increasingly disillusioned and cynical about the democratic planning process in this country given the number of frighteningly misinformed 'statements of fact' quoted against the proposed plan and ensuing debate! Fundamentally people clearly did not understand exactly what the airport is proposing to build and there were several mini-debates on what walkways and piers comprised of and whether they constituted an expansion of capacity.
This went on for sometime before a councillor in favour of the development pointed out that if the walkway was vetoed, the airport were just going to go out and buy more busses! Councillors and other political appointees with this sort of power need to listen more to their professional advisors (i.e. lawyers and surveyors) and less to emotional-charged and deluded 'representatives' anxious to push an agenda that is either not relevant or incompletely briefed.
It worries me that if this is the sort of palaver the airport needs to go through just to get a walkway built, what sort of battle will it have to fight before the recently proposed master plans are accepted?
Sorry, rant off now!