Start of SSE evidence to Public Inquiry

Diary Dates for Tuesday 17 July to Friday 27 July 2007

Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) will begin giving evidence on Tuesday 17 July at the Public Inquiry into plans to expand the capacity of Stansted’s single runway. Copies of all proofs of evidence are accessible online.  The order of appearances for the eight days of evidence is as follows (correct at time of writing):

Tuesday 17 July

– Opening statement (Counsel – Paul Stinchcombe) (details will be issued to the media on 17 July)

– Peter Sanders (historical background)

– Geoff Gardner (planning considerations)

– Riki Therivel (strategic environmental issues)

Wednesday 18 July

– Riki Therivel [if overrun]]

– Paul Garland/Peter Sanders (sustainability appraisal)

– Brian Ross (forecasts)

Thursday 19 July and Friday 20 July

– Martin Peachey [air and ground noise]

– Pat Elliott (air quality)

– Ian Bruce (water)

– Suzanne Walker/John Drake (quality of life)

– Maggie Sutton (community cohesion)

Tuesday 24 July, Wednesday 25 July, Thursday 26 July

– Jangu Banatvala (health)

– Ken McDonald (housing impacts)

– Brian Ross (economics, employment and housing)

Friday 27 July

– Roger Levett (climate change)

– Aqqaluk Lynge (climate change impacts)

(Media opportunities between 25-27 July with Mr Lynge who is President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Greenland will be advised separately to the media.)

NB:  Surface Access evidence is programmed for 5-7 days from 25 September but details of timings and appearances are still to be confirmed.

NOTES

Location: Endeavour House, Coopers End Road, Stansted Airport CM24 1SJ (from M11 junction 8, follow airport terminal signs then yellow ‘Public Inquiry’ signs) Shuttle bus available from airport terminal if travelling by public transport.

Free parking is available on site for outside broadcast vehicles and media travelling by car, as well as for members of the public. Filming and photographs are not permitted during the formal sitting of the Inquiry but arrangements can be made for ‘scene setting’ photography/filming through the Inquiry Programme Officer, Simon Osborn on (M) 07710 969411.

BACKGROUND TO THE PUBLIC INQUIRY

BAA is seeking unlimited passenger use of the airport’s single runway, currently capped at 25 million passengers per annum, which could result in the eventual doubling passenger throughput and an increase in the number of flights from 192,000 (latest 12 months total) to 264,000 annually. Permission for the application was refused by Uttlesford District Council in November last year and the Public Inquiry will hear BAA’s appeal against that decision.

The opposition that Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) has mounted to BAA’s plans represents the culmination of more than a year’s work by a dedicated team of volunteers and external consultants, widely supported by the campaign’s 6700 members and beyond. With the Inquiry set to last unti c19 October, evidence exposing the true scale of environmental damage that would be caused by BAA’s proposals and their negative impact upon the UK economy will be heard from scores of organisations and individuals, from parish, district and town councils, conservation and community groups to those fighting airport expansion elsewhere in the UK.

As a principal participant in the Public Inquiry, SSE will present evidence covering a range of issues from economics and employment, climate change and community cohesion to noise and health, road and rail impacts, air quality, water and air traffic forecasts. This will form the basis of presentations to be made between 17-27 July, and was the platform from which SSE’s barristers – Paul Stinchcombe and Sarah Hannett of 4-5 Grays Inn Square – cross-examined BAA’s witnesses earlier in proceedings.

Transcripts of most Inquiry sessions to date appear online. The latest version of the Inquiry timetable (still subject to change) can be accessed online.

Apart from the local planning authority Uttlesford District Council and Herts and Essex County Councils, other key parties in the Inquiry giving evidence against BAA’s proposals are the Stansted Airlines Consultative Committee, National Trust, Friends of the Earth and Much Hadham Parish Council.

Following the Public Inquiry, the Inspector will submit his report and recommendation to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Secretary of State for Transport for decision and an announcement is expected in Spring 2008.