Debate contribution: Belfast City Airport Master Plan
Debate contribution by Ms Kate Nicholl on .
- MLA
- Ms Kate Nicholl
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 11 May 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Belfast City Airport Master Plan
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5524211
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I will start on a point on which we all agree: welcoming ambition. As a former Lord Mayor of Belfast, I know all too well that Belfast is a city that has earned its right to be ambitious. We have grown, rebuilt and proved people wrong in so many ways, so, when an institution like Belfast City Airport produces a master plan to double its workforce, welcome seven million passengers and pursue the first direct rail link of any airport on the island, that is the correct tone, and it is right that we say it. Belfast has so much to offer. Our city — our region — has such extraordinary things going for it, but, sometimes, we lose sight of how important connectivity is. Whether it is families visiting, businesses bringing investment, students coming here for placements or tourists discovering the joys of Northern Ireland, it is important to remember that connections are a necessity. They are the lifeblood of our economy. Living on an island, we understand that better than most, so we welcome the ambition behind the master plan. It is also important to be honest with the people who are watching. Many Members have mentioned that we have a significant policy gap. The draft aviation strategy is now out for consultation, but it took far too long to get here. Once that consultation closes on 22 May, we need pace. We need the assessment to be done and the final strategy to be published, because the strategy should be setting the direction for the airport industry, not chasing it. I agree very much with the Chair of the Economy Committee on that. Where I differ with him — it is a really important point, in line with what Sinéad has said — is that development of our airport infrastructure must go hand in hand with our commitment to the environment. It is not always a popular thing to say, and, sometimes, people frame it as a choice between green and growth — between economy and environment. Alliance rejects that framing completely, not because we are naive about the tension that can exist, but because it is economically illiterate to pit those things against each other. The businesses that will fill the planes that leave the airport, the tourists who will visit the city and the investors who will consider Northern Ireland will look at how we manage our future, not just our present. Sustainable growth is not a constraint on ambition; it is the condition that we need for growth to last. That is why we tried to amend the motion, but, obviously, that was not accepted for the debate. We do not oppose the master plan. We just ask that it be developed in line with planning rules and statutory regulations.
We are asking that it sits within the wider comprehensive aviation strategy.
Go ahead.
I thank the Member for his intervention. Yes, that is why it is disappointing that there is that policy gap and that we do not have the strategy that we should have had. Any development of that size needs to fit within the rules, and I do not think that there should be exceptions just because we want it. Certainly, we need to deliver more. We think that economic development, environmental protection and decarbonisation go hand in hand, not as competing priorities but as a joined-up plan. That requires Economy and Infrastructure to work together, so it is welcome that the Infrastructure Minister is here. There needs to be clarity of purpose. In reply to the Member's point, it requires urgency on the strategy that should have been in place years ago. We all want Belfast to thrive. We all want greater connectivity. We all want our airport to grow. We want businesses, families and visitors to come here easily and often and with good reason, but we also need to be honest about major transformations to our airport landscape and, indeed, generally. Look at some of the hold-ups in general: we want ambition, but we need to be able to deliver it. That needs to sit within a framework that sets clear goals for our route network. That is so important. Skills are a massive issue for our environmental obligations and for the kind of Northern Ireland that we are trying to build. The strategy has been delayed for far too long, but we are here now, so let us make sure that we do it properly.
748 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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