Nice of the airport to pledge £4.30. I'll send a fiver myself if it'll help
I'm sure the airport owners will be very grateful - every little bit will help as they are looking at having to fork out £150 million if the expansion goes ahead.
North Somerset Unitary Authority planning officers have recommended that the planning apllication be approved when the councillors meet to consider it next Monday.
However, the officers have included 69 conditions, many involving financial commitments, they feel should be met with the main ones listed here.
£4.108m towards the cost of a new link road between the A370 and the A38
£1.25m towards phase one of the Bristol rapid transit route from Long Ashton Park and Ride into the city centre
£200,000 towards traffic calming measures in Barrow Gurney
£100,000 on an Environmental Improvement Fund to reduce the effect of noise on local properties
A restriction on the number of night flights between 11.30pm and 6am
Passenger numbers to be capped at 10 mppa
Numerous specific local highway improvements
The airport has already pledged the financial outlay so that should not be a problem. I don't know the full details of the night flight proposal but the airport is restricted at the present time.
Not sure about the 10 mppa. The airport master plan talks of in excess of 12 mppa but the timescale for that is of necessity vague. They might accept the 10 mppa which the current thinking says will probably not be reached until 2018-2020, but no-one can know with any certainty how the aviation industry will develop in the years ahead.
The airport has always said any expansion will be done incrementally as the need arises.
The councillors are not bound to accept their officers' recommendations and this council has a history of going against them in recent years.
If the councillors do approve the planning application it will still remain for the secretary of state to give the final go-ahead.