Stour and Orwell Society news_mar09

PRESS RELEASE

ISSUED BY STOP STANSTED EXPANSION 11 February 2010

MAKE YOUR MIND UP ON SECOND RUNWAY, GOVERNMENT TELLS BAA

The Government Minister responsible for dealing with BAA’s plans for a second Stansted runway has asked the airport operator to state whether it still wants to continue with its current planning application.

John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities, has also told BAA that if it does still want its second runway application to be considered, then the information provided when it submitted the application almost two years ago will need to be updated.

The planning application documents stand more than ten feet high, which gives an indication of the amount of work that would be involved in bringing the information up to date.

The ‘make your mind up’ message is contained in an open letter sent yesterday (10 February) by the Secretary of State to BAA, Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) and other interested parties. The letter also states that if BAA does still want its second runway application to be considered, the Public Inquiry cannot start until after the next General Election which must be held no later than 3 June. Significantly, both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are pledged to ditch any plans for a second Stansted runway.

SSE has been pressing the Secretary of State over the last year to bring an end to the present blight and uncertainty by having the second runway planning application withdrawn, although recognising that this is something only BAA itself can do.

SSE strongly welcomes this intervention by the Secretary of State. SSE Chairman Peter Sanders commented: "We’re very pleased that the Secretary of State has now put the ball firmly in BAA's court by asking it to state its future intentions regarding its second runway application. BAA has spectacularly failed in its original intention to secure planning approval for a second runway before the next General Election, despite having had the present Government’s blessing for the development since 2003. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, and if BAA does decide to go ahead it must make a start on updating that ten foot pile of planning documents. The blight and uncertainty has gone on for far too long.”