The whole of the carpark to the west of the terminal -staff west etc has permission for use as apron and has for many years. They have chosen not to use them as there is more money in car parking and there have been distractions such as Airport City which in my view is a damp suib and has resulted until recently in a huge loss of car parking.
To get the planning through MAN have made it clear this is not expansion but transition to improve the terminal experience and to start to make the airfield more efficient. As a result a net increase of one stand when you consider all those on and around pier C will be lost, as will many on the "cargo apron" and those currently remote off T2. What is not clear is if the net increase of 1 takes account of the loss of stands on Pier A which will be needed to create a dualled taxiway opposite T3.
We know from MAN that the TP only increases the stands by about 1. What the exact figure is is not clear because there will be changes as things go forward. However any great increase in stands over and above those in place now plus say 1 will need more planning permissions for expansion. There is no guarantee if and when this will happen but there is one thing for certain there will be huge opposition