RESIDENTS OPPOSED to a runway extension at George Best Belfast City Airport in Belfast have criticised proposed planning changes which they believe could make it easier to pass the controversial development.
Draft planning policy guidance would mean the economic implications of a proposed development may be the determining factor in approving a planning application, lobby group Belfast City Airport Watch (BCAW) said.
Increasing the number of passengers and visitors to Northern Ireland is among the perceived attractions of the runway extension to the business community.
Liz Fawcett, spokeswoman for BCAW, said: “This draft planning guidance, if it comes into force, would completely shift the goal posts with regard to the runway extension . . . It’s quite wrong for the Department of the Environment, which is meant to protect our environment, to be proposing that environmental concerns should be brushed aside.”
Belfast City Airport Watch opposes the runway extension because it believes it would permit larger, heavier and noisier planes to fly from the airport.
Airlines using the airport argue it would make routes from there more profitable and allow a greater selection of destinations to be served. Ryanair has pulled out of the airport because of delays to the extension. The development is to be the subject of a public inquiry later this year.