After GALBA stopped Leeds Bradford Airport changing the night time flying rules in its 2020 planning application, the airport has tried to do it again by applying for a set of Certificates of Lawful Existing Use or Development (CLEUDs) which will have the same effect if granted.
A CLEUD is a planning application to make something lawful because you have been doing it for a period of time, even though you were not allowed to do it in the first place. An example of a CLEUD could be when a farmer builds a house on their land without seeking planning permission, then, a few years later, asks for a certificate to make the building lawful.
If they can prove that it has been there for the qualifying period of time and that nobody has objected, then a certificate will be granted.
In the case of Leeds Bradford Airport, because it involves operations rather than buildings, the qualifying period is 10 years. For a CLEUD application to be legal, it must outline the specific rule that has been broken and it must provide clear evidence that the rule has been broken continuously for a period of 10 years.
The CLEUD process is inherently undemocratic. It is based on evidence alone and does not allow for discussion of planning merit and does not allow public comments, but it can call for evidence from the public if the planning officers think it would be helpful. The evidence is considered by planning officers behind closed doors and the decision made by them alone. It does not go to a public plans panel as most planning decisions do – especially ones with high public interest. For this reason GALBA thinks the CLEUD process is totally unsuitable for an application of this importance.
The airport’s CLEUDs refer in detail to QC (Quota Count) noise ratings of the planes it flies. You can find out more about how aviation noise is measured here.
Leeds Bradford Airport claims that the latest generation of planes in use today at LBA are operating illegally because they were not specifically mentioned in the Planning Permission as they did not exist at the time it was written. It applied for five CLEUDs in September 2023. These were scrutinised by GALBA and many holes were found in the evidence which meant that they would have to be rejected by Leeds City Council planning officers. So, in October 2023, the airport withdrew the CLEUDs and submitted four new CLEUDs with new evidence.
GALBA has scrutinised the new evidence and found as many holes in it as the previous set of CLEUDs and submitted its findings to Leeds City Council in a legal letter.
We’re pleased to say that the council rejected all of LBA’s new applications. But LBA used its automatic right of appeal and the legal meaning of the night flight rules was considered at a Public Inquiry in Leeds from 11 to 14 March 2025. The Planning Inspector agreed that the flights of the latest generation planes are illegally operated (500 in Summer 2025) however he rejected the CLEUDS because he said LBA had not demonstrated continuous use for 10 years. The airport has now appealed this via a Statutory Review and we are waiting to find out if the appeal is allowed to proceed.
Now, roll on to 2026 and LBA as at it again. They have submitted a new single CLEUD which adds more data to the evidence to try to close the gaps in the previous evidence that the Inspector rejected. GALBA’s lawyers are studying this CLEUD and we will be submitting a robust objection.
Leeds Bradford Airport wants permission to fly an unlimited number of its most frequently used planes at night
There are other mechanisms available to seek clarification on planning issues through the High Court, but it’s GALBA’s guess that Leeds Bradford Airport doesn’t want these issues scrutinised in front of a judge.
If Leeds Bradford Airport really wanted clarification, for example, that they are allowed to fly the latest generation of planes, they could write to the council and ask that question. We’re sure the council would agree as long as the planes are counted towards the night time flight allowance – and nobody would object to that!
But that is not what the airport is asking for. It is specifically asking for the latest generation of planes to be excluded from the night time flight allowance, meaning they could fly in unlimited numbers.
However there is a simple way to put an end to this merry-go-round of CLEUDS. Leeds City Council can simply APPROVE the illegal planes!
Leeds Bradford Airport is big enough already