26th January 2007

Announcement on proposed second Stantsed runway

SSE Response, Diary Date and Photo-call

Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) leaders will be joined by members of the local community outside The Three Horseshoes public house, Molehill Green (by Stansted Airport – see directions below) on Tuesday 30 January between 11.30am-12.30pm to comment on the proposals for taking a second runway through the planning process which are due to be announced by BAA earlier that morning.

Much of Molehill Green is threatened with obliteration under all the scenarios which have been considered by BAA for siting a new runway, including the beautiful 500-year old thatched pub. Other communities which could be most directly affected by BAA’s proposed land grab include Broxted, Burton End and Bambers Green.

SSE Chairman Peter Sanders and Campaign Director Carol Barbone will both be available for interview. Media needing comment, interviews or pictures outside the core photocall period should contact Carol Barbone.

BACKGROUND

BAA’s consultation on its preferred wide-spaced runway siting and other options closed in March 2006. The outcome was originally meant to be announced last July but has been repeatedly deferred because of protracted discussions with airline customers at Stansted whose objections to paying for BAA’s plans have been widely publicised. The planning application is due to be submitted by BAA at the end of this summer and will be considered at public inquiry. The result would not be known before 2010.

Stop Stansted Expansion’s position is that a second runway would be an environmental catastrophe if it ever went ahead, whatever the location, not least because of the massive increase in global warming emissions to which the proposals would give rise if they were ever implemented. There are also serious concerns about the regional and local impacts which would result if Stansted were allowed to grow to handle more passengers than Heathrow today.

SSE’s campaign against a second runway is actively supported by over 130 parish and town councils and special interest groups. Meanwhile, district councils including Uttlesford, East Herts, Harlow, North Herts, Epping Forest, South Cambridgeshire and Braintree are united with county councils including Essex, Herts and Cambridgeshire in opposing second runway plans. Every local MP and MEP in the region and the East of England Regional Assembly are also against the proposals.

BAA’s application for removing the limit on passenger numbers (currently capped at 25 million passengers per year) and increasing the number of permitted aircraft movements was unanimously refused by Uttlesford District Council last November and is now the subject of a separate public inquiry which is due to begin this summer. SSE is also actively opposing the plans for expansion on the single runway and has already raised half the £100,000 it needs for expert witnesses and legal representation.

DIRECTIONS

To reach the Three Horseshoes, Molehill Green, CM22 6PQ, from the M11, turn right at the last roundabout (Coopers End) before the airport terminal, then immediately turn left at the mini roundabout. Follow the road for about a mile into Molehill Green and turn right at the green itself. The pub is on the left.

 

Campaigning to ensure Stansted Airport's authorised operations stay below harmful limits