The Housing Secretary promises to balance the economic contribution of general aviation with development needs
The comments come in a letter to the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) and relate to the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – which for the first time ever references the importance of GA. The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP said: “I agree that it is important to ensure that we balance the economic contribution of the general aviation sector with housing and commercial priorities, and that we identify exactly how this contribution is delivered, and what constitutes the critical infrastructure that is necessary to deliver them”.
The APPG is campaigning for four further minor amendments to the NPPF, on which consultations are open until 10 May. Details of the campaign can be found through this link.
Commenting on the letter from the Housing Secretary, Grant Shapps MP, Chair of the APPG, said: “We welcome the commitment from the Secretary of State… General Aviation in the UK contributes £3bn directly to UK plc every year, and employs more than 38,000 people in highly-skilled science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs.
“It’s so important that Government departments work together hand-in-glove, if we want to continue to train the pilots, air traffic controllers and engineers we need for the future.”
