'Save Wigmore Valley Park and we'll believe Luton Airport can be UK's greenest' says Lib Dem group

The global coronavirus pandemic has stalled expansion plans for the town’s airport for 12 months.

London Luton Airport Limited (LLAL) was due to submit its application this month to expand from 18m passengers a year to 32m, but this has been deferred to 2021.

Now, the leader of Luton’s Liberal Democrats is questioning how the airport's green credentials will measure up going forward.

Barnfield councillor David Franks said: “LLAL says it’s planning to make its expanded airport greener and more sustainable.

“We’ll believe it, if plans to concrete over the second best park in Bedfordshire are abandoned.

“And we’ll believe it, if plans to make Ashcroft Road and Wigmore Lane major access routes to their airport are scrapped.”

The airport company has the borough council as its majority shareholder.

LLAL has a budget of £50m to prepare the development consent order (DCO) application and has spent around £30m so far, according to the Liberal Democrats.

They say much of it has been allocated to studies and advice from consultants.

“In spite of constant complaints from those living near the airport or under its flight paths, nothing like enough is being done to deal with air quality and noise problems,” warned councillor Franks.

“There’s not enough monitoring of air pollution and without the information you can’t begin to work out how to deal with the problem.”

The group says it’s been “lobbying for years for more air quality monitoring around schools in the eastern and southern areas of Luton” with concerns about “the potential damage to children’s lungs”.

It claims this “cannot be assessed because the technical information isn’t being collected and analysed”.

A recent local authority task and finish group investigation confirmed that most of the air pollution problems comes from traffic travelling to and from airports.

The study also acknowledged that airports contribute to localised air quality issues as well.

But LLAL’s chief strategy officer Graham Olver said: “LLAL will be taking a systemic approach to the challenge that looks afresh at every aspect of sustainability and the impacts of running an airport.

“We are serious about this. Our task will involve reimagining our proposals for expansion.

“It also means working closely with the support of our operator and other partners to look at how the airport and existing infrastructure in Luton operates today.”

LLAL has been considering already how the expansion of London Luton Airport will meet the terms of both the Paris Agreement and the recommendations of the committee on climate change.

Mr Olver said: “Our work will be crucial to support Luton Council’s target to deliver a zero-carbon town by 2040, significantly ahead of the government’s target for the UK as a whole.

“We know a key ingredient will be to work with many partners including the council, highways authorities and public transport providers on an integrated and sustainable public transport system serving the area around the airport.”