New airport at Brigg

No, its not April Fools Day 😉

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Plans have been unveiled which could see an international airport built at Brigg.

Lincoln International Airport – as the facility has been dubbed – is part of a masterplan designed to turn the region into a powerful economic and cultural centre. Those behind the plans have also suggested forming a new Greater Lincolnshire unitary authority.

The report has been produced by representatives from the academic world, business and religious communities and looks at ways of turning around the county’s fortunes over the next 15 years.

But residents of North Lincolnshire have ridiculed the idea of an airport in Brigg, claiming the region does not need another one.

Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield opened in April this year, close to Finningley – just a few miles from the North Lincolnshire border.

And Humberside Airport, based at Kirmington, also offers regular flights abroad.

The report showed Lincolnshire to have the worst performing economy in the East Midlands and it is hoped the plans will be in place by 2020.

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An Ambitious idea to build an international airport in Brigg has been ridiculed by local councillors.

The idea is part of a radical vision which shows what Lincolnshire could look like in 2020 – and the masterplan warns the county could face an economic crisis if action is not taken. The document includes ideas such as a new Greater Lincolnshire unitary authority, an executive mayor of Lincolnshire and niche companies in the specialist engineering market.

But the report also includes the idea of having a brand new airport at Brigg – bizarrely named the Lincoln International Airport.

If built, it would mean the region would have three international airports within a 30-mile radius.

Coun Nigel Sherwood, who represents the Brigg and Wolds ward on North Lincolnshire Council, said the idea must have come from someone who did not know the area.

He said: “I think the idea just isn’t sensible – we have two airports just down the road at Finningley and Kirmington.

“I’m always interested in sensible and achievable ideas but to put an international airport in Brigg is unachievable.

“The problem is you get consultants coming in from other parts of the country with grandiose ideas and they’ve not even looked at the area.

“I mean, where would you put an airport in Brigg? They clearly haven’t done their research.”

Coun Nic Dakin, leader of the Labour opposition on North Lincolnshire Council, said he would welcome an airport at Brigg if it were commercially viable.

He said: “I think in North Lincolnshire we are very fortunate because we are close to Robin Hood Airport and we have Humberside Airport, which is one of the fastest growing in the UK.

“There is a limit to the number of airports you can have close together.

“I would be surprised if it was commercially viable to have another one, but if it was I would welcome it.”

Mayor of Brigg, Penny Smith, said: “Where would they put it?

“We already have an airport about five miles from Brigg, so I don’t see we need another one.

“Clearly these people don’t know Brigg or they would know about Humberside Airport.”

University Vice Chancellor Professor David Chiddick, the man behind the report, said the group first sat down together in November last year.

“We said ‘let’s try to imagine what’s going to happen in the world, especially in Europe by then, that might affect us’.

“This is a group that imagines what might be possible; it could be religion, it could be the economy. It’s called imagine forward, plan backwards.

“What has come out of the process has been very provocative, very engaging but very challenging.”

He said it was a plausible view of where Lincoln could be if action was taken and the report set out what needed to be done.

He added: “We are not saying this is ‘the’ vision, this is ‘a’ vision of what Lincolnshire can become by 2020.

“But one thing is clear – doing nothing is not an option.”

Businessman Bryan Carr, chairman of Lincolnshire Enterprise and a board member of the East Midlands Development Agency, added: “Lincolnshire Enterprise supports the Lincoln 2020 process.

“We need to have a long-term vision for Lincolnshire that deals with the major challenges in an integrated and visionary way.”