PLYMOUTH'S mothballed airport land could be used for flights alongside technology businesses and even some housing, a city politician says.
Gareth Derrick, who will fight the Moor View parliamentary seat for Labour, said the site should become an economic driver for north Plymouth with businesses and houses next to a smaller airstrip for the latest electrical, autonomous and vertical-takeoff aircraft.
He said there are other options other than either building on the 113-acre plot or reopening the airport as it was before closure in 2011. Mr Derrick said an airport with "some regional capacity" could be used as a hub for technology companies, and link with Plymouth Marjon University and Derriford Hospital.
He said the site, protected from development until 2024, has a vital role to play in reenergising the economy of northern Plymouth, where wages have seen an above-average 10% drop since 2000. Mr Derrick stressed the land should be retained for aviation but said: "We will never see the old airport being reopened."
This story is from the January 20, 2023 edition of The Herald.
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This story is from the January 20, 2023 edition of The Herald.
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