Volunteer campaign group Fairoaks 2020 is fighting plans to close the UK’s Fairoaks Airport to create 1,000 homes has gained support from the 177-member-strong All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) of MPs and Lords for general aviation.
The APPG, led by Grant Shapps, has just added its support to the fight against the planning application, which was formally filed by the Fairoaks Garden Village (FGVL), the current airport owners, in October.
Fairoaks Airport is situated in Surrey, UK. Fairoaks 2020 lodged its own formal objection on November 23 to Surrey Heath, Woking and Runnymede Borough Councils.
Douglas Mancini, chairman of Fairoaks 2020, said, “We do not believe that such a large development and potential loss of 400 acres of Green Belt landscape – that could result in the closure of this strategically placed airfield to the south west of London – should be made by a local planning committee.
Mancini now calls on the UK government to act to protect the airport grounds ahead of the York Aviation Report, which is due to be presented to the UK government’s general aviation champion Bryon Davis imminently.
The independent report was commissioned by the Department for Transport to look at strategically located airfields in the UK. York Aviation’s initial report stated that Fairoaks Airport is ‘not viable,’ but Fairoaks 2020 strongly challenges that.
Fairoaks 2020 also challenges that closing strategic aerodromes in the country restricts the number of essential landing sites for cross country navigational flights, which are necessary for cadets to gain a pilot’s license.
