The future expansion of Liverpool John Lennon Airport is looking in doubt, with political consensus in the city growing against such a move.
A full city council meeting tonight heard parties on all sides express views that the Speke airport should not be allowed to grow in size.
The debate surrounding the airport's future is intensifying as the city wrangles with the competing issues of post-pandemic economic recovery and the climate crisis battle.
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A motion at the meeting was put forward by Green Cllr Anna Key that if adopted, would instruct the council’s executive to remove financial aid to the airport.
She told the meeting: "You cannot move to a net zero economy by 2030 and expand the airport - that cannot happen."
The Green member then reluctantly agreed to an amendment bringing about a report as a way to keep the issue on the table.
The amendment, tabled by Labour Cllr Hetty Wood, asks the cabinet to undertake an “evidence based review of all council policies and plans relating to green space and the environment” alongside a report “detailing the process for, and consequences of, removing all financial support from LJLA” - a move Green member Cllr Key said needed to be done “urgently.”
She said the move to put together a report was a move to “kick the decision into the long grass” and the expansion of the airport was not compatible with the council’s aims to reach net zero by 2030 and it must tell LJLA to “rethink.”
Of the location, Cllr Key said Speke was one of the most deprived areas of green space in the country and any expansion of the site would “always be bad for the environment.”
She said policies needed to be geared towards a green new deal and any possible land increase at LJLA was a “non-starter” for jobs and the economy.
Proposing her amendment, Labour Cllr Wood said it sought to strengthen the original motion, not go against it.
Cllr Wood said it was right to review the airport’s Masterplan as it was published in 2018 and made no references to the changes in the aerospace sector since 2019.
On the decision to move towards the production of a report, Riverside ward member Wood said it would ask for relevant information before any financial decision was made and to do so without such data would be “irresponsible.”
Climate Change and Environment Select Committee chair, Cllr Lena Simic said: “Let’s be clear, nobody wants airport expansion.”
She added that Liverpool should “lead the way” and the world was different from the first draft of the council’s own local plan and the airport’s masterplan.
Labour councillor Alan Gibbons - who expressed his “total” opposition to expansion - said those rallying against the plans had “done a great service” and the council should work with activists campaigning against airport expansion and “use them as a resource.”
The amended motion was agreed unanimously with a report to be brought before the next meeting of full council.
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