12 February 2007
It would appear that Redhill Aerodrome, near Gatwick in Surrey, has a more secure future after a government minister wrote to local MPs confirming that “there is no change to planning policy status of the airfield at South Nutfield” (Redhill).
As we reported <a href=’newsfeed.php?artnum=330′ target=’_blank’>last October</a>, Redhill’s owners, Redhill Aerodrome Ventures Ltd (RAVL) had plans to build a new village on the site. There is much local opposition to the plans.
In the letter, housing and planning minister Yvette Cooper MP says “There is no presumption that previously developed land is necessarily suitable for housing development. This applies to airfields as to all other land uses. It is up to local authorities to decide on a case by case basis.”
Local MP Peter Ainsworth told the Surrey Mirror: “I am pleased this point has now been clarified. We now have certainty that, because Redhill Aerodrome is an airfield, it does not make it more vulnerable to development than other Green Belt land.”
It is hoped that RAVL will now begin to concentrate on its second proposed option: to extend and develop the airfield as an airfield.
