A legal expert has said Lydd Airport’s aim to eventually carry two million passengers a year must be taken into account when its current expansion plans are considered.

Planning barrister Matthew Horton QC said the airport’s master plan has to be considered when Shepway District Council decides on the airport’s planning application later this year.

This was submitted on the basis of 500,000 passengers a year, but Mr Horton said the council has to look at the airport’s master plan too, which states the long term objective to quadruple this figure. He said when the council examines how expansion might affect nearby habitats which are protected by European legislation the master plan cannot be ignored.

It is in line with a view the Lydd Airport Action Group has been expressing for some time.

Its chairman Louise Barton said: “The real objective is two million passengers per annum, but if they’d have said this figure in their planning application it would have been obvious that there will be environment damage. Instead they are trying to disguise the adverse impacts.

“It is European legislation that all plans must be assessed when a planning authority looks at the adverse impact of a development. If Shepway council do not take this into account they could open themselves to a legal challenge.”

Near the airport there is the Dungeness Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area.

Sarah Smith, a spokesman for Shepway council said: “We took legal advice on this point some time ago and our position has not changed.

“The position remains that we are considering two planning applications which cater for a growth in passengers of up to 500,000 a year.

“Part of the planning process will be to assess the applications under the Habitat Regulations based on this figure. If we were to grant permission for the present applications this would not commit us to approving a larger airport beyond the expansion set out in the plans.

“If LAAG has new evidence about the legal position they should send it to us to consider.”