LATEST UPDATE

 Section 106 terms have been agreed between the airport and Solihull Council. We understand the airport is currently conducting a further noise survey which will inform final plans for the extended runway.

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CURRENT POSITION

 In October 2007 BIA published an Interim Statement in which it explained that revised traffic forecasts meant that they did not foresee the need for a second runway before 2030. This effectively meant that the threat of a second runway in Catney had receded.

Shortly after that the master Plan was published and a planning application submitted almost concurrently to Solihull MBC for the extension of the existing runway. The 400 metre extension of the runway involves diverting the A45 and tunelling beneath it for a section.  The master plan and planning application can be found on the airport's web site.

If the extended runway is approved, it will mean that aircraft will no longer be required to observe "the Hampton Turn" when taking off towards the south. This will mean aircraft flying closer to Hampton rather than turning slightly towards Catney on takeoff.

BACKGROUND

In July 2002 the Government issued a consultation paper on the development of future air transport which suggested the need for a second runway at Birmingham by 2016 to accommodate forecast passenger numbers, and the document included detailed drawings of the proposed second runway. This was known as the wide space option which took out all the properties on the airport side of the canal in Catney. This was the start of property blight in Catney.

Birmingham International Airport (BIA) responded with a suggestion for a shorter 2nd runway, which they believe significantly reduced the environmental impact and limited the need for compensation to only 3 properties in Catherine de Barnes.

The Residents Association submitted an appropriate response and also made submissions to Solihull MBC to reject the proposals.

In 2003 The Government issued a White Paper which adopted the BIA proposal for a shorter second runway and all airports involved were asked to draft a Master Plan. The Government specifically asked airports to address the issue of “generalized blight”.

BIA produced a Draft Master Plan for consultation in 2005. This plan included an extension to the existing runway (as envisaged in their previous plan) together with a second runway which they said would be needed by 2020. The airport also established a working group of representatives from local communities to discuss the compensation proposals.

The working group rejected the proposed compensation scheme as inadequate – a view which was also expressed by Solihull MBC and the Airport Consultancy Committee.

In 2006 the Airport issued revised compensation proposals following further consultations with local residents and action groups. Although somewhat simplified, the revised proposals still did not address generalised blight and still only identified three properties in Catney for compensation.

The airport uses forecast noise contours as the basis for compensation. In line with other airports, BIA limits compensation to properties within the 66 DbA contour despite the fact that the 57 DbA contour is generally recognized as the onset of nuisance. If the airport were forced to recognize the 57 DbA contour, a second runway would be out of the question as the cost of compensation would destroy the business case. The Residents’ Association has repeatedly asked BIA to include a proximity factor when considering compensation but to date this has been to no avail.

Towards the end of 2006 the airport announced some changes to the proposed compensation scheme. The issue date of the proposed Option Agreements would be brought forward to coincide with the publication of its Master Plan which was expected in Summer 2007.