Stansted Airport expansion plans will ‘ambush local communities and residents,’ according to Uttlesford Liberal Democrats
Uttlesford Liberal Democrats say that Stansted Airport is seeking to ‘ambush local communities and residents’ with its plans to become the UK’s 2nd biggest airport. They say the submitted planning application is “unravelling under the pressure of public scrutiny” and Stansted is not being ‘open’ with local residents. Thaxted Councillor Martin Foley said public opinion is not being taken into account, nor is there enough consideration in regards to the additional traffic following the expansion, branding plans too “simplistic”. The airport is “not being open and transparent in their application to expand its capacity to 43+ million passengers per annum.” …“Firstly, they have buried their demand for the removal of current restrictions on night flights at Stansted in an appendix to their main application.” Public consultation events have not been properly promoted, and the airport’s “assessment of the impact of the additional traffic generated by the expansion is simplistic and rudimentary.” Implausibly, the airport’s CEO tries to make out there will be a lower noise impact, even with 8 million more annual passengers (35 million up to 43 million).
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Stansted Airport expansion plans will ‘ambush local communities and residents,’ according to Uttlesford Liberal Democrats
It’s claimed public opinion is being ignored
By Charlotte Page (Hertfordshire Mercury)
17 APR 2018
Uttlesford Liberal Democrats say that Stansted Airport is seeking to ‘ambush local communities and residents’ with its plans to become the UK’s second biggest airport.
Today (Tuesday, April 17) the party raised concerns after claiming that the submitted planning application is “unravelling under the pressure of public scrutiny”.
Despite London Stansted holding community consultations, the Lib Dems say the airport is failing to be ‘open’ with local residents.
Thaxted Councillor Martin Foley said public opinion is not being taken into account, nor is there enough consideration in regards to the additional traffic following the expansion, branding plans too “simplistic”.
He said:“Stansted Airport is not being open and transparent in their application to expand its capacity to 43+ million passengers per annum ~(MPPA).
“Firstly, they have buried their demand for the removal of current restrictions on night flights at Stansted in an appendix to their main application.
“Secondly, they are ignoring local public opinion as they have failed to adequately promote recent public consultation events on their application.
“Indeed, they failed to hold one in Stansted Mountfitchet, which is the nearest large settlement to the airport.
“Thirdly, their assessment of the impact of the additional traffic generated by the expansion is simplistic and rudimentary.”
The new gateway will be the seventh UK airport that Emirates operates out of in the UK.
Payments labelled ‘cash for favours’
Stansted Airport will become a quieter place, according to its CEO. With an increase by eight million passengers.
Similarly, Melvin Caton of Stansted Liberal Democrats said Stansted Airport is “determined to ride roughshod over local community opinion”.
He said: “I do hope that they don’t think they can take Uttlesford District Council and local communities for a ride. We won’t be a soft touch.
“The reasoning behind the application is highly dubious.
“They want to substitute the number of movements of small aircraft with large aircraft.
“It was clearly timed to pre-empt the content of the National Aviation Strategy due to be published in July, and pitched the expansion at 8.5MPPA to sneak below the 10MPPA threshold that requires central government to make the decision.”
However, while Stansted Airport could see an increase in passenger numbers by eight million per year chiefs insist that they will reduce noise impact.
The airport is not allowed to take more than 35 million passengers over 12 months, but the proposal would increase the cap to 43 million – a rise of 22 per cent.
CEO Ken O’Toole said the plans do not propose an increase in the number of flights and have been welcomed by businesses.
Similarly, the airport would like to clarify that there is no demand to remove current restriction on night flights within the application.
A spokesman for London Stansted said: “Stansted Airport consulted extensively with our local community over the last 12 months to help develop our planning application to increase the number of passengers we serve without increasing the number of flights we are permitted to operate and remaining within our noise limit approvals.
“We’re committed to maximising the social and economic benefits of growth in the most sustainable and efficient way possible for local residents, passengers, businesses and airline partners.
“The proposals outlined in our planning application will deliver 5,000 on-airport jobs and thousands more in the wider region, a doubling of the economic value-add created and millions more tourists using Stansted as their arrival point into the UK.
“We have met all our obligations on our legal and planning requirements to deliver this application and it is now for UDC to consider the views of all those with an interest in the proposal and determine it on its merits and within the required timescales.”
The public consultation period has been extended to Monday, April 30.
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Stop Stansted Expansion raises night flights and ‘noise nightmare’ concerns over airport’s expansion plans
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) says the airport wants to change conditions which have prevented it from lobbying government for more night flights. The plans were “buried” within its planning application to expand its annual throughput of passengers from 35 million to up to 43m. It claimed it was “a clandestine attempt to betray the community”, as it raised concerns about sleep disturbance and adverse health impacts caused by night flights. “For years SSE has been calling for tougher controls to bear down on the impacts night flights have on sleep disturbance and the quality of life and wellbeing of people across the region,” said SSE noise adviser Martin Peachey. “Stansted is already allowed more than twice as many night flights as Heathrow, and night flights are set to be completely banned at Heathrow within the next 10 years as a condition of expansion.” The airport says it is not seeking any change to current night flight limits, as the limit is already set above current usage. SSE are also concerned that the long haul and freight aircraft which airport owners Manchester Airports Group (MAG) is hoping to attract to Stansted are “typically larger and noisier than most aircraft types currently based there” and with less stringent night noise controls, these could become a serious noise problem for local residents.
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