Issue - meetings

Katy Woolcott, London Biggin Hill Airport

Katy Woolcott provided an update on developments at London Biggin Hill Airport following its identification as a Strategic Outer London Development Centre in the London Plan, and as part of the LoCATE (London Centre for Aviation Technology and Enterprise) project which brought together a cluster of modern aviation-related businesses at and around London Biggin Hill Airport.

The LoCATE Team had recently completed an analysis of the economic value of the airport to the local economic community which would feed into the development of Bromley’s Core Strategy.  London Biggin Hill Airport offered flights to 747 destinations, and Katy Woolcott was pleased to announce that seven young people had recently been recruited to a range of career opportunities at the airport. 

In response to a question from the Chairman, Katy Woolcott confirmed that there was some land available for development at London Biggin Hill Airport but that other vacant land was restricted for safeguarding purposes.

Paul Le Blond, on behalf of Biggin Hill Airport

Paul Le Blond provided an update on developments at London Biggin Hill Airport following its identification as a Strategic Outer London Development Centre in the London Plan, and in particular the LoCATE (London Centre for Aviation Technology and Enterprise) project. Since the last meeting, there had been a number of one to one and larger meetings, including a full stakeholder meeting on 1^st December 2012 at the new RizonJet facility at the Airport. Stakeholders had also been shown the new heritage hangar where five Spitfires were being restored and maintained, visited Jet Aviation and saw the potential of the West Camp.  

The first six LoCATE apprentices had been identified – they would have eight months of training at Cotswold Airport starting in August, then move to Biggin Hill for a further sixteen months.

The LoCATE Team were undertaking a survey of the economic value of the Airport to the local economic community, the results of which would be fed in to Bromley’s Core Strategy. There was already evidence of the global connectivity offered by the Airport – 747 locations around the world were connected by flights to or from the Airport in 2010, about three times more than the scheduled flights offered by all London’s other airports.

He concluded by stating that the LoCATE Team was keen to participate in development of the Core Strategy for the area and to get more positive stories about the Airport into the local press. He also invited the Partnership to hold one of its meetings at the Airport.