PLANS for an £80million development of Bristol International Airport (BIA) have been put on hold due to environmental issues. BIA chief executive Paul Kehoe

PLANS for an £80million development of Bristol International Airport (BIA) have been put on hold due to environmental issues. BIA chief executive Paul Kehoe told a meeting of the airport's consultative committee the plans will not be submitted to North Somerset Council until 2008.The detailed planning application, known as the BIA Masterplan, was expected to be finished and handed in by autumn this year.Mr Kehoe, who was appointed as chief executive in June, said that he wants more research to be done into its environmental impacts before the plan is finalised. The plans include increasing a 180-bedroomed hotel on the site, allocating around 6,000 more parking spaces and increasing the terminal's size, all to help cope with increasing passenger numbers.The plan, which was published in November 2006, stated that passenger numbers were expected to rise to 6.7 million every year until 2010. However, the campaign group Stop Bristol Airport Expansion, has said this figure is likely to increase. A spokeswoman said: "This rapid increase in passenger numbers is deeply worrying, especially given the impacts it will have on local traffic and noise."The masterplan gave the clear impression we would see less rapid growth than this. The public have been given the wrong impression.