Stansted inquiry to be rushed through to foil runway critics
time in an attempt by the Government to prevent the Conservatives cancelling the
project if they win the next general election.
rooms at the same time.
because they can afford just one barrister. BAA, the Spanish-owned airport company
seeking to make Stansted bigger than Heathrow is today, is expected to have five
barristers.
£2.3 billion new runway and terminal, which would add capacity for an extra 40
million passengers a year at Stansted.
The Times, approval could be granted just before the election is called.
of the inquiry into two separate streams", to appoint three co-inspectors and
to complete the inquiry in six months.
that are Grade II listed, and the destruction of two scheduled ancient monuments.
The number of flights would more than double to 490,000 a year and the airport
would expand to take up three more square miles of countryside.
that the inspector’s report would not have been handed to ministers for a decision
until well after June 3, 2010, the last possible date for an election.
on the site of an old sewage works, took almost four years despite involving no
loss of historic buildings or countryside.
accelerate an earlier inquiry into expanding the number of flights using Stansted’s
existing runway.
in this matter and they have asked for my report by Christmas, which is considerably
earlier than it would normally be."
the Government for the report to be delivered in the shortest possible time.
the inquiry process in the space of six months is quite simply outrageous. The
local community’s ability to participate fully in the inquiry will be severely
compromised by the plan to have parallel sessions examining different subjects
in different inquiry rooms at the same time.
for SSE and others to keep abreast of all the evidence and to cross-examine BAA
on all its evidence." The spokesman added that a challenge could be brought under
European law, which enshrines the right to public participation in the decision-making
process. The group will urge the inspector to revise the schedule at a preinquiry
meeting scheduled for November 10.
rules were brought in to prevent planning inquiries from dragging on for years
and forcing local voices out because of unnecessary delays . . . The detailed
timing and process of inquiries is a matter for the independent inspector, who
will make recommendations to ministers in due course, having considered all the
evidence from parties."