The Parish Councils Airport Association has submitted it’s response to the Bristol Airport Draft Final Master Plan Consultation 2024. You can view or download their response here.
Publow with Pensford Parish Council approved its response to the Bristol Airport Draft Final Master Plan Consultation 2024 at its meeting on January 13th 2025 and this has now been submitted. The full text is here:
Publow with Pensford Parish Council’s response to Bristol Airport Draft Final Master Plan Consultation 2024 to increase Airport capacity to 15 mppa
It is just over two years since planning consent was granted by Inspectors for growth of Bristol airport to 12 mppa and Publow with Pensford Parish Council objects to the new proposal for further growth to 15 mppa.
The key reasons for our objection are summarised below:
Location of the Airport
Publow with Pensford Parish consists of mainly quiet rural villages in a conservation setting, washed over by the green belt. The parish is located in the Bath and North East Somerset council area, approximately 6.5 miles to the east of the airport.
The proposal is for incremental growth from 10 mppa, then 12 mppa rising to 15 mppa with yet another 5 mppa proposed sometime in the 2030s. If approved, this further expansion would likely have a significant detrimental effect on our Parish and residents by way of an increase in flights, traffic, noise, and night flights.
Transport:
We do not believe further airport expansion is sustainable. There is no escaping the fact that Bristol Airport is situated in a rural location with a poor transport network, well outside the Bristol city limits. The entire transport network and infrastructure surrounding it is highly inadequate to serve a major airport. In particular, there is no rail link, no mass transit system, no dual carriageway, and no direct main road link to the M5.
A large proportion of airport-related traffic movements are to/from the City of Bristol, North Somerset and parts of Somerset Council area, using the largely single carriageway A38. The Master Plan does not extend beyond road improvements to the A38 in the immediate vicinity of the airport. However, the effects of this expansion will be felt well beyond the immediate vicinity. The wider network of roads would need significant improvement if it is to cope with the increase in traffic arising from growth to 15 mppa.
There is no direct main road from Pensford to the airport. A large proportion of airport related traffic already passes though village of Pensford on the A37 and through the other Chew Valley villages in Bath and North East Somerset using the B3130. This is not the “official” through route, but there is no deterrent to out of area traffic using the B3130.
There is no direct public transport from Pensford to the airport. The only viable way to travel to the airport from Pensford is by car or taxi (33 minutes). The only public transport alternative is by bus and coach via Bristol (1 hour 31 minutes).
There is no direct public transport from Bath to the airport. The quickest way to travel from Bath to the airport is by car or taxi (36 minutes). The only public transport alternative is by train and bus via Bristol (56 minutes).
It therefore stands to reason any airport expansion will generate a lot more traffic in and through our area from people travelling to the airport by car or taxi.
Pensford village in particular already suffers from significant airport related road traffic movements and we would expect this parish to experience an increased traffic impact from any airport expansion.
The main signposted access road between Pensford and the airport is via the main A38 route to the A4174 Avon Ring Road and A37. In the absence of duelling, any significant growth in passengers will mean that the main A38 route to the A4174 will remain at capacity and heavily congested. More and more cars travelling to and from the airport from the City of Bath and the M4 to the East and South East will therefore undoubtedly seek a rat-run via rural B roads to avoid the busy main A roads.
A considerable volume of airport traffic already takes a short cut through the B3130 turning off the A37 at Belluton. This is a substandard, narrow road and is unsuitable for any increase in traffic. The “Belluton Narrows” are difficult to navigate at the best of times and even existing levels of traffic can experience blockages here. The B3130 starts in Belluton, to the north of Pensford and runs from the A37 through to a point near Stanton Drew, (site of the second largest stone circle in England after Avebury), then through the villages of Chew Magna and Winford to the A38 just north of the airport. The road through Chew Magna, in particular, is continually clogged during periods of heavy traffic. Any increase in airport related traffic along the B3130 would present a health and safety risk to the numerous cyclists that use this road. Traffic travelling to and from the airport can be “impatient” and fast moving and often exceeds the speed limit. Cars often pass each other dangerously on this stretch of road.
We would expect the A37 to Wells and B3013, which pass through our parish, to suffer from increased through traffic arising from any airport expansion. The substandard A37 at Pensford Hill is already very busy with heavy traffic and it is regularly blocked due to being too narrow for heavy vehicles traveling in opposite directions to pass each other side by side. This section would potentially experience an increase in airport related through traffic arising from an increase in out of area airport related vehicles arriving from the east and the south.
Noise:
Publow with Pensford Parish objects to the proposed increase in flight movements to 15 mppa and we believe that the number of flights should remain at their current level.
The Airport is situated in a rural area, the increase in total aircraft movements from 85,990 to 100,000, is a 16.3% increase which will take away any tranquillity left after the expansion to 12 mppa and will have an adverse impact on residents’ health and well-being.
Our parish is likely to experience increased noise arising from any further airport expansion. Pensford village in particular already suffers from aircraft noise. It should be noted that it is already possible to hear the reverse thrust from planes in parts of Pensford after they land at the airport on a summer’s day when the wind blows in our direction. This can only get worse if the plans for more and larger planes go ahead.
The existing aircraft flight path and turning zone runs directly above Pensford village (see image below). Noise is particularly experienced during easterly wind conditions when planes take off into the wind and head out to the east. This results in a high concentration of planes climbing and turning for lengthy periods directly above our parish, which is particularly disturbing in the early hours of the morning. Any expansion is likely to further increase the noise and disturbance experienced by our residents. It is accepted that this could be alleviated by making changes to the flight path, but our requests to do so have been refused in the past.
Night flights:
Publow with Pensford Parish oppose any change to the night movement limit and we believe that the limit should remain at its current level.
A 25% increase in night flights of 1,000 within an annual limit of 5,000 would be detrimental to our residents. The Master Plan states that the vast majority would arrive between 23.30 and 02.00 hrs. This would mean a flight approximately every five minutes. This is unacceptable. The limit of 4,000 flights per year should remain.
There should be no arrival or departure movements within the hours of 02.00 – 06.00 hrs.
There is no mention of increased noise levels from the Dreamliner, A321X LR and Airbus A350 from the extra fuel capacity required for long haul. These aircraft are large and have a higher maximum take-off weight. These flights should not arrive or depart within the night time movement limit.