Dear Sirs
Nottinghamshire and Nottingham Waste Local Plan – Consultation on Issues and Options

Thank you for consulting East Midlands Airport on the Issues and Options document that forms part of the process to prepare the new Nottinghamshire and Nottingham Waste Local Plan. We have considered the consultation material and have some observations and comments that we hope are helpful at this stage of the plan-making process.

East Midlands Airport is a significant UK airport and in 2019 handled some 4.9 million passengers. It is also a nationally important cargo airport (second only to London Heathrow) handling 375,000 tonnes of cargo in 2018. East Midlands Airport is the UK base for global express freight carriers DHL and UPS who rely on its available airport capacity, the central location and direct access to the Strategic Road Network (M1, A42, A453 and A50). Both DHL and UPS have recently made significant investments in new facilities at the Airport.

The Airport site and the immediate East Midlands Enterprise Gateway area is an important national and regional economic and employment asset. Recent studies have estimated that the Airport generates some £500m of direct, indirect and induced GVA in the East Midlands and it is a significant regional employment area with some 9,500 people working on the site. Section 3 of the Local Plan Issues and Options document sets out the overall context in a description of Nottinghamshire and Nottingham, including its transport links and economic assets. Although lying outside the Plan area, East Midlands Airport is close to the County border and it plays and important economic and employment role across the area. This could be usefully referenced in Section 3, particularly paragraphs 3.7 and 3.8. This would also be consistent with Plan 1 that shows the location of East Midlands Airport.

We do not have specific comments in relation to the broad locations for waste management facilities,
nor the site criteria that is set out in Section 6 of the Issues and Options consultation document.
However, we do wish to highlight our role in ensuring that aviation safety is not compromised.

East Midlands Airport is an officially safeguarded under the requirements of ODPM Circular 1/2003.
The objective of this Circular is to protect the safe operation of the Airport and its surrounding
airspace from developments that may compromise aircraft and passenger safety. The safeguarded
area is shown on the safeguarding map that is issued to local authorities and this defines the areas
and the types of development for which the Airport is a statutory consultee.

Consultation with the Airport is required for development proposals that are; a) buildings, structures,
erections and works that exceed the heights specified on the safeguarding map; b) any proposed
development that may have the potential to interfere with the operation of navigational aids, radio
aids and telecommunication systems; c) lighting or large-scale solar arrays that may have the
potential to distract pilots particularly in the immediate vicinity and beneath aircraft departure and
arrival routes; d) proposals for any aviation use within a 13km radius of the Airport; e) any proposal
within a 13km circle centred on East Midlands Airport that has the potential to attract large numbers
of birds – such proposals include significant areas of landscaping or tree planting, minerals extraction
or quarrying, waste disposal or management, reservoirs or significant waterbodies, land restoration
schemes, sewage works, nature reserves or bird sanctuaries; f) any proposals for any wind turbines
within 30km.

A large part of the Plan area is within the Airport safeguarded zone, particularly the 13km bird
safeguarded area. It is therefore important that the aerodrome safeguarding requirements for East
Midlands Airport are included within the scope of future development management policies that are
identified in Section 7, paragraphs 7.1 and 7.2. We therefore request that aviation safety and
aerodrome safeguarding is included as one of the issues to be covered y a development management
policy and added to the list in paragraph 7.2. We would be happy to work with you on drafting a
policy wording as the Plan develops.

Thank you again for consulting us. We trust that these comments are helpful at this stage of the
Waste Local Plan process, but should you require any additional information or wish to discuss the
Airport’s aerodrome safeguarding requirements in further detail, then please contact me directly.

Yours faithfully
Jon Bottomley
PLANNING MANAGER