Shoreham Airport development blow

1:43pm Monday 27th August 2007

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Plans for the major redevelopment of an airport have been hit by two new blows.

Transport bosses have ordered approval of the scheme - which could bring 200 new jobs to Shoreham Airport - to be put on hold for three months.

And the airport's historic municipal hangar dating from the Second World War has just been declared a listed building.

The double whammy means it could now be November before Adur District Council can finally give the plans for Britain's oldest commercial airport the green light.

The scheme would have seen the hangar demolished to make way for commercial property including new hangars, offices, a fire station and control tower.

Councillors agreed the plans earlier this month subject to the approval of the Highways Agency .

A deadline of August 14 was set for airport owners Erinaceous to address Highways Agency concerns about access from the A27.

Keith Morgan, Adur's head of planning, in his report to the planning committee, said: "The Agency advised officers on August 14 that it would not be possible to reach agreement by the deadline that day because they were still in discussion with the applicant's highways consultant.

"The Agency's main concern relates to the impact the proposals may have on the Sussex Pad junction of the A27 which they state is already operating over capacity."

Two days later the Highways Agency issued a holding direction under the Town and Country Planning Act, 1995.

Mr Morgan said: "It directs that planning permission may not be granted for three months from the date of the direction.

"It means the council cannot now issue planning permission for this application until after November 16, unless the Highways Agency advises otherwise.

"The applicants now have three months to try to reach agreement with the Agency."

Listing of the municipal hangar has also been under consideration by English Heritage since February.

The Department for Culture, Media, and Sport gave it a Grade II listing on August 20.

It ruled the distinctive double-span roof represented "contemporary inter-war trends" in hangar design.

Most of the building is original despite some reconstruction as a result of damage during World War II.

It also fits in well with the airport's Art Deco terminal which is already a listed building.

The report adds: "It is part of an inter-war ensemble that bears witness to the phenomenal growth of civil aviation in this period.

"It was a pioneering and audacious episode of considerable historic interest that is otherwise recognised in only a very few designated sites."

The move means that plans to demolish the hangar cannot now go ahead without Listed Building Consent from the council.

The planning committee will discuss the set-back when it meets on Monday.

The new blows follow the decision by Erinaceous this month to drop plans for new homes at the airport as part of the project after objections from the Environment Agency.