CHAMBER NEWS
Airport expansion delay ‘hugely disappointing’
The Government’s decision to further delay a long- awaited decision on airport expansion in the UK will hold back exporters and damage the economy, according to the Chamber. But it could open the door for a review of airport
strategy generally and in particular the utilisation of under-used capacity at East Midlands Airport. In July, Prime Minister David Cameron guaranteed
The Members Briefing newsletter
Chamber newsletter will be digital-only
Members Briefing, the Chamber’s monthly business opportunities and advisory newsletter, is going digital. Starting with the February
edition, the first of 2016, the A4 publication will be available only online. And the content is being revised
to make it more focused to members’ needs. Diane Simpson, the Chamber’s
Deputy Chief Executive and Commercial Director, said: “We have been asked many times if we could produce Members’ Briefing digitally. “Having looked closely at the
publication during the winter break we decided that not only could we easily meet that request but it makes commercial sense now to do it and to attune the content more to what our readers want.” A link to a page-turning
electronic version of Members’ Briefing will be sent to everyone who would have been on the mailing list for the print version.
there would be a decision by the end of the year after the Airports Commission concluded that a third runway at Heathrow might be the best way of increasing Britain’s air passenger capacity. The commission, however, did not rule out the
possibility of a second runway at Gatwick nor the option of extending an existing runway at Heathrow, leaving the Government to make the final decision. However, in December, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin delayed the decision until summer this
‘Trade with fast-growing markets requires the UK to have a strong, resilient aviation strategy’
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin
year at the earliest – after the London mayoral election in May. He said the Government needed to “undertake
more work on environmental impacts, including air quality, noise and carbon”, before deciding how best to expand airport capacity. Of just three options put forward, the Chamber
supported the third runway at Heathrow, on the understanding that transport infrastructure would be upgraded to create better access to Heathrow from the East Midlands. However, in the immediate term, the message
from local business is that there is massively under- used capacity at East Midlands Airport and other regional airports in the UK. A survey of Chamber members last year found
that East Midlands Airport was the preferred gateway for most regional businesses, with Birmingham second and Heathrow third. Chris Hobson, the Chamber’s Director of Policy,
said: “The Government's decision to further delay its announcement on airport expansion is hugely disappointing and goes against its stated ambition to increase UK exports to £1trn a year by 2020. “It is businesses which will drive this, but if they can't fly to emerging markets to make deals because of a lack of capacity, they will be hamstrung from the start.”
Gateway scheme welcomed
The go-ahead for plans to develop a massive transport and warehousing hub in Castle Donington, which has the potential to create 7,000 new jobs, has been welcomed by the Chamber. Transport Secretary Patrick
McLoughlin MP granted development consent last month to Roxhill Developments to push ahead with the East Midlands Gateway Rail Freight Interchange scheme. The development will be built on
farmland north of East Midlands Airport and west of junction 24 of the M1. It will include ten warehouses and a freight terminal which could
14 business network February 2016
handle up to 16 trains-a-day, along with container storage and HGV parking. Chris Hobson (pictured), the Chamber’s Director of Policy, said: “This is welcome news. The proposed East Midlands Gateway Rail Freight Interchange development will unlock the huge economic benefits which come with the creation of 7,000 new jobs, will have a positive impact on the local distribution and logistics sector and will strengthen the region’s offering as a key business location to inward investors. “The area between Derby,
Nottingham and Leicester is a real sweet spot for infrastructure
development, with the potential to become a fulcrum for economic growth in years ahead. “We make things here in the East Midlands that are sold throughout the UK and beyond. This scheme sits alongside other major regional infrastructure developments taking place in the region, such as HS2, the electrification of the Midland Main Line and the Smart Motorways initiative. “Taken together, these strengthen
our ability to get people and goods in and out of the area, supporting supply chains and enabling local businesses to get their products and services to market quickly and more effectively.”
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