New public consultation on Luton Airport expansion

We’re dismayed that Luton Borough Council is pressing ahead with plans to expand Luton Airport. This flies in the face of the need to mitigate climate change and would, if implemented, cause harm for local residents and the environment. We don’t want more aircraft noise, air pollution, or visual intrusion in the skies over Hertfordshire.

On 8 February the Council launched a new, statutory public consultation regarding their proposal for a massive expansion of their Airport. The Council owns the Airport through a wholly owned company recently rebranded under the name Luton Rising.

The consultation runs until 4 April 2022. And it’s very important that everyone with any concerns about the proposed Airport expansion submits their comments. This is likely to be the last consultation before Luton Rising submits their proposals to the Government for approval.

The proposals are similar to the heavily criticised plans produced in 2019. We have a number of concerns, including

• The proposed expansion would see a near doubling of pre-pandemic passenger capacity, up to 32 million per year. This is despite Luton Council declaring a state of climate emergency only 12 months ago.
• There is insufficient information about how the existing road network and infrastructure would cope with the increase in aircraft movements and airport related traffic.
• The increase in noise and air pollution associated with the proposed expansion would negatively impact local residents across a wide swathe of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
• The most ecologically sensitive areas of the award-winning Wigmore Valley Park would be destroyed, and the replacement proposals would be inadequate mitigation.

We will be analysing the proposals in more detail and submitting our own robust comments before the consultation closes.

You can get more information about the proposals, along with details about the consultation, on the Luton Rising website.

In addition, Luton Rising are holding a series of in-person events where they will be presenting information and answering questions. Event locations include Markyate, Stevenage, Breachwood Green, Harpenden, Hitchin, Tring and St Albans. This is indicative of the extensive geographical area of Hertfordshire that will be negatively impacted if the Airport expansion goes ahead.  The full schedule of events including venues, dates and times is available here.