Planners give thumbs-up to £28m LBA scheme

Airport bosses saw the culmination of a two-year plan to add a two-storey extension to the Yeadon terminal building after Leeds Council planners approved the scheme in principle.

The move could help attract up to 5,000,000 passengers a year by 2012.

In a lengthy meeting of the council’s Plans Panel (West) councillors voted by four to three in favour after deferring the matter in April over concerns about the impact on roads.

Planning officers had worked to thrash out a new deal with the airport, which included a commitment of funding in stages as passenger numbers increase.

Councillors have asked for some key points in a legal agreement to be clarified before the matter is fully approved by the chief planning officer Martin Sellens. These are trigger points relating to peak traffic which, if exceeded, would see the airport having to provide nearly £1 million for improving the neighbouring roads and bus services.

One councillor called for more cash, but Mr Sellens said: “We have pushed them as far as we can and we are not going to get any more out of them. There is no wiggle room.”

The two-storey extension will create a new check-in area and security facilities, and a new departure lounge and shops on the first floor. It follows a recent £2m re-development of the forecourt.

A number of hackney carriage drivers had packed out the four-and-a-half-hour meeting hoping the panel would also force the airport into providing a taxi rank at the airport, instead of the current private hire deal. But they left disappointed after being told airport bosses had an exclusive contract.

John Parkin, the airport’s chief executive, said the work would take 15 months and would create a number of construction jobs – with the use of local labour and companies being promoted.

He said: “We welcome the decision which marks an important milestone in the development of a progressive national and international gateway for the region."