Panshanger's Project Phoenix reaches first target

The Project Phoenix campaign has reached its first crowd funding milestone of £10,000 in less than two months of its launch.

Panshanger Aerodrome was closed three years ago and is in the draft Welwyn & Hatfield Local Plan for a housing development with a small mention of the possibility of re-establishing an aerodrome. The Local Plan is currently under scrutiny by the government planning inspector to test whether it is viable and sound.

In October 2016, Welwyn Hatfield Council amended their Draft Local Plan to include possible provision of an airfield at Panshanger with the following commitments:

“In addition, the Masterplan will allow the opportunity for a realigned grass runway on land to the north of the Green Belt boundary.” and “…, development at the site will be configured in such a way that the opportunity remains for the relocation of the grass runway to be provided on Green Belt land to the north of SDS1 [Panshanger development site]”

However, the Green Belt area as it stands is too narrow at the centre of the site to support a runway compliant with CAA regulations. This, and additional hurdles, mean there is a major concern that the hope of an airfield will not be fulfilled.

GAAC, Sport England and Panshanger Community Airfield pointed out these key issues to the planning committee at the council meeting prior to the submission of their final draft local plan, but unfortunately the council did not take these matters into account. Therefore the current plan does not allow for the reopening of Panshanger Aerodrome, as it is not currently viable.

Awareness campaign

Project Phoenix is an awareness campaign to let the public know about the situation whilst also demonstrating to the Council the strong support for the reopening of the airfield within the local and aviation communities.

“Since the launch, we have been exhibiting at local shopping centres such as the Howard Centre and the Galleria, and the response has been overwhelming from the local public with neighbours stating that they miss the planes and want their airfield back,” says Sue Hart, Campaign Manager

“We have also been at key aviation industry events such as the Royal Aeronautical Society conference on the future of UK airfields and at the Historic Aircraft Association, where committed aviators have also shown their support and made significant donations to the project.”

Carol Vordeman backs campaign

Among those backing the campaign are celebrity aviator and Honorary RAF Group Captain Carol Vorderman, University of Hertfordshire, Airtime Aviation, Falcon Flying Services, Pauline Vahey from AOPA (Aircraft Owners Pilot Association) and GAIN (General Aviation Infrastructure Network), aviation insurance group Hayward Aviation, and local MP Grant Shapps.

Having reached the first phase goal of crowd funding, the emphasis is now on the signing of an online petition to the council, which can found at https://www.change.org/p/chief-planning-officer

This will demonstrate how many people would like to have Panshanger Aerodrome reopened for the community and highlight the need for more space allocation and a proper commitment from the Council to the reopening of the aerodrome.

The next steps also involve liaising with key councillors within the borough and developing the airfield plan to include feasibility and ground studies.

Project Phoenix