Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the criteria are for granting of planning permission on strategic airfield sites to be reviewed.

All applications for planning permission, including any that are called in by the Secretary of State, must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

The National Planning Policy Framework is a material consideration in planning decisions and the Framework’s policies for delivering sustainable development must be considered as a whole. Where relevant, this would include the policy for airports and airfields (that are not subject to a separate national policy statement), which expects local planning authorities to take account of their growth and role in serving business, leisure, training and emergency needs. Planning guidance supporting the Framework makes clear that local authorities should consider the interconnectivity between airfields of different sizes and that they should have regard to the Aviation Policy Framework.

Airfields are considered alongside all other relevant planning considerations by the decision-taker in determining a planning application.