Jamie Oliver writes to Darling to oppose Stansted plans

Jamie Oliver has written to his local MP Sir Alan Haselhurst with a letter for the Secretary of State Alistair Darling MP to oppose proposals to add new runways at Stansted Airport. The text of his letter to Alistair Darling is reproduced below:

Dear Mr Darling,

Re: Proposed Expansion of Stansted Airport

My wife and I would like to register our strong objections to the recent proposals.

Thousands of people around here have been really shocked to discover that the new expansion proposals would make Stansted the biggest airport in the world and that just one more runway would make it the size of Heathrow.

We grew up in this beautiful area and we love it here. We are going to bring our children up here. As you know, children are most at risk from the cocktail of chemicals that are emitted from aircraft and with an airport of that size, it would affect a really wide radius and thousands of children.

How can you want to carry out proposals that would mean that children of this country would grow up under a constant aerial bombardment of toxic chemicals as well as being subjected to intolerable noise levels?

Among the dismay here, there is also a resigned, helpless and miserable sense of doom that this has all been decided, but I understand that if we all write to our MPs, then the government will listen. Surely no government would want so many people to have this deep anxiety imposed upon them?

Opponents to these monstrous plans are from all political parties – they are only interested in the health and future of our children, our planet and our heritage. We live by an airport and we expect to bear our fair share, but this is not fair to the people of this area.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie Oliver