Leeds Bradford Airport expansion protesters GALBA to keep £30,000 donated for legal battle despite victory

Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (GALBA) raised the money to pay for legal representation at an inquiry due to have been held this September.

An independent planning inspector was set to decide whether controversial plans for a new £150m terminal should have been approved by Leeds City Council.

However, the airport announced last week that the proposals had been scrapped because the Government’s decision to order a planning inquiry had resulted in “excessive delays”.

Instead, it will revert to previously approved plans to upgrade and extend the current terminal.

GALBA, which is an unincorporated association, said it plans to keep the £32,852 raised because “the fight isn’t over” and it needs “high-quality legal advice”.

Writing on its website, the group said: “The airport’s bosses still claim they can increase the number of day and night time flights. So we will have to continue the fight against this assault on public health and our environment.

“Even though the public inquiry has been cancelled, LBA’s recent claims mean that we still need high quality legal advice and we may need to take further legal action to stop any breach of the existing rules. That means we will continue to incur costs.

“We will also continue working with other campaigns in the UK aiming to limit airport expansion, as well as supporting legal moves to ensure the government takes its climate commitments seriously by not allowing unrestricted aviation growth.”

Anyone who wants to discuss their donation and ask for a refund is being asked to contact GALBA directly.

Leeds City Council granted planning permission for a new terminal at the airport in Yeadon in February 2021, despite almost 2,000 objections.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove then ‘called in’ the decision 11 months later and said that a public inquiry into the decision should be held.

The owner of Leeds Bradford Airport - Australian firm AMP Capital - said it wanted to replace the existing terminal, which was built in the 1960s, with a modern facility that is more energy efficient by 2023.

But objectors claimed the development would lead to an increase in passenger numbers and flights, which will generate more harmful emissions.

The airport owners were granted permission to extend the existing terminal in 2019 and a council report stated the decision will allow them to increase passenger numbers to five million per year by 2023.

This story was first published by The Yorkshire Post.