§ Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if planning permission will be granted for the proposed second runway at Manchester airport; and if he will make a statement. [11505]
§ Mr. GummerTogether with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, I have decided to grant planning permission for a second runway at Manchester airport.
It is important to build on Manchester airport's success. It is already the 18th busiest airport in the world in terms of international traffic, with more passengers than Chicago. The second runway will cater for long-term customer demand. It will also create thousands more jobs and bring benefits for the whole of the north-west. This decision will be a boost for Manchester and the whole of the north-west.
A development of this scale will inevitably have impacts on the local environment, but the applicants have put together an impressive package of proposals to reduce these impacts and to seek the balance implicit in the concept of sustainable development.