STANSTED AIRPORT: Group welcomes public inquiry delay

3:38pm Tuesday 26th August 2008

A GROUP of local authorities opposing plans for a second runway at Stansted have welcomed the delay to a public planning inquiry.

The CO2 Group (Councils Opposed to 2nd Runway) are pleased the Planning Inspectorate has agreed to move the start of the public inquiry into the Stansted G2 application.

The inspectorate agreed with the case made by Essex, Uttlesford, Hertfordshire and East Herts councils that more time should be given before the start of the inquiry, to allow for more thorough environmental and technical examination.

The CO2 group had argued that the airport’s owner, BAA, has already had four years preparing the planning application and that local authorities should be given a reasonable period to prepare their response.

As a consequence the date of the inquiry has been moved from January 13 until April 15 next year. Likewise, the date for the submission of outline statements by the four local authorities has been moved from September 15 to October 13.

The councils have commissioned a number of independent experts on aviation, environmental and economic issues to independently test and research BAA’s assessment which runs to several volumes. The work will take several months and the extension granted by the Planning Inspectorate will enable that work to be conducted as thoroughly as possible.

Group member and Essex County Council leader Lord Hanningfield said: “This rescheduling of the public inquiry is good news for all those who agree with us that a fair chance needs to be given for those who believe there is a sound case for refusing planning permission for BAA’s proposals.

“We are determined we will make every effort to independently assess the information which BAA are providing on this matter and prove that rural Essex is not a suitable place for an extra runway and the tripling of flights to our county which BAA have said they want.

“A second runway at Stansted would lead to the destruction of acres of ancient woodland and countryside.

“We will be working very hard between now and April to make the environmental and technical case the Stansted G2 plan would have a serious impact on our residents’ health and way of life and should therefore be discontinued.”

Uttlesford District Council leader Jim Ketteridge said: “We welcome the additional time to prepare our case but a withdrawal of the planning applications by BAA now would save everyone involved a great deal of time, not to mention expense.”

Hertfordshire County Council planning, external relations and waste executive member Derrick Ashley said: "In addition to the environmental impact, we are still very concerned about the huge strain that an additional runway would place on an infrastructure that is already stretched to its limits.

“I hope this new date will give the government the chance to think again about the full implications of a second runway, particularly in relation to our local services."

The proposals put forward by BAA mean flights from Stansted would almost triple to 70 million passengers a year (from the current 23.2 million passengers). The number of aircraft movements would increase by two-and-a-half times from the current 200,000 to 495,000.

In terms of the natural environment the application would also see the destruction of 19.30 hectares of ancient woodland, 9 hectares of other woodland, 13 listed buildings, 30,577 metres of hedgerows, 35, hectares of high value grasslands and 45 hectares of lower value grass lands.

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