Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of airfields potentially due to close as a result of planning permissions; and if he will make a statement.
The Government has a clear planning policy for airfields set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. It recognises the significant contribution that aviation makes to economic growth and requires local authorities, when preparing their Local Plans, to take account of the role of airfields in meeting business, leisure, training and emergency service needs.
Planning guidance supporting the Framework makes clear to local authorities that they should consider the interconnectivity between airfields of different sizes and that they should have regard to the Aviation Policy Framework.