GOVERNMENT RULES OUT SECOND RUNWAY BUT NO VICTORY YET
Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) is pressing for early meetings with new Government ministers responsible for transport and planning to press for greater certainty in ruling out a second runway at Stansted, not just in the life of the present Parliament, but in the longer term as well. The campaign group will be aided in its efforts to secure the talks by a number of local MPs led by Sir Alan Haselhurst who has been in the forefront of opposition to airport expansion plans over the last eight years.
The move comes in the wake of the early policy announcement by the new Coalition Government that a second runway at Stansted would be refused, along with new runways at Gatwick and Heathrow.
Ministers will be asked to put pressure on BAA to withdraw completely its second runway application, originally submitted two years ago but now on hold. This would remove the blight which would otherwise hang over the community for years to come. Those subject to Compulsory Purchase Orders for their homes and businesses are particularly vulnerable, but the generalized blight from the airport operator’s plans affects some 12,000 properties, according to research by SSE.
SSE will also be working to ensure that a second Stansted runway will be ruled out in the new National Policy Statement (NPS) for UK Airports which is due out for consultation next year. The new NPS will be a crucial document because it will, in effect, determine which UK airports are allowed to be expanded over the next 20-30 years and which are not.
Commenting, SSE Campaign Director Carol Barbone said: “The Coalition Government's commitment to refuse a new runway at Stansted is an important milestone for us, and one that we have worked hard to achieve, but we still have work to do before we can relax our guard. Only when BAA's second runway planning application has been torn up and Government policy rewritten to oppose Stansted’s expansion in the long term can we rest.”
REACTIONS TO THE RUNWAYS ANNOUNCEMENT
Watching out for their own interests, business organisations and airlines criticised the ban on airport expansion. London First, representing big business in the capital, said the Government must come up with a "Plan B" if it were ruling out expansion of London's three airports, and insisted high-speed rail was no substitute for international air links, according to the Financial Times. The British Chambers of Commerce said this decision would diminish London and the South East's ‘attractiveness to investors with potential consequences for the UK economy as a whole’.
BAA said: "We will work with the new government to ensure that airport policy provides the strong international trading connections on which the UK's jobs and future competitiveness depend." The news was welcomed by Birmingham Airport, which said it could offer part of the solution to ‘the Heathrow problem’ with spare capacity capable of taking another nine million passengers immediately. A spokesman for the Chamber of Commerce in the eastern region said that scrapping the second runway would prevent the creation of thousands of additional jobs.
AIRLINES’ MIXED RESPONSE TO ‘PER PLANE’ TAX
The new Government’s plans to replace air passenger duty (APD) with a ‘per-plane duty’ to ensure that ‘pollution is properly taxed, were criticised by Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and FlyBe as ‘unworkable’, ‘illogical’ and because of lack of a guarantee that it would benefit the environment. Air freight and business jet operators, who do not pay APD, also criticised the change. However, easyJet, which operates modern, fuel-efficient aircraft with high passenger loads, welcomed the news – as did Stop Stansted Expansion which has long argued that a per-plane tax would be better for the environment in terms of incentivising airlines to operate more efficiently.
BAA ADMITS IT PAYS THE FINES OF NOISY STANSTED AIRCRAFT
BAA has admitted that Stansted Airport pays the fines of aircraft that breach noise regulations. At the first meeting of the Stansted Airport Consultative Committee (STACC) to allow questions from the public, Nick Barton, the airport’s commercial and development director, was quizzed about disruption caused by AirAsia X’s late-night flights, an increase in traffic this summer and whether it was true that Stansted paid fines incurred by airlines who breached noise regulations. He admitted that the fines were paid by BAA but claimed that this was simply to avoid any delay in depositing the money in the community fund and that BAA then recovered the money from the airlines unless there were mitigating circumstances.
Mr Barton and Stansted’s head of environment, Dr Andy Jefferson, said BAA was working with AirAsia X and other carriers to improve track-keeping and to reduce infringements. AirAsia X is Stansted’s only long-haul passenger carrier and the source of some of the most vociferous complaints about noise. Other issues raised at the STACC meeting included the pressure on residents whose lives are on hold because of the threat of a compulsory purchase order. Mr Barton apologised for the disruption and said any improvements to a property would be reflected in the purchase price.
AIRPORT PLANNING APPLICATION REFUSED
SSE has welcomed the decision by Uttlesford District Council’s Development Control Committee to refuse BAA’s planning application for permission to rent its surplus warehouse space to all-comers. Having taken account of evidence submitted by BAA, plus objections by SSE, parish councils and members of the public, the Council found no material reason for making an exception to its own longstanding policy of only permitting airport-related businesses to operate from within the Stansted Airport site. The committee vote was unanimous and went against the recommendation of its officers. The committee also disagreed with BAA's argument that there was a serious shortage of suitable warehouse space locally and considered that, with a planning application for a second runway still on the table, no-one could be sure that Stansted Airport's current surplus of airport space would remain long-term.
VOLCANIC ASH CASTS MORE GLOOM OVER PASSENGER NUMBERS …
Stansted Airport’s passenger figures for April represented the 30th successive month when volumes were below the corresponding month of a year before. Overall, BAA said its April traffic was down 22.7 per cent on the same month last year due to the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud which closed UK airspace for several days. At Stansted, the airport lost 330,000 passengers (BAA’s figures) due to ash clouds. This was the Essex airport’s 4th successive April decline, with the month’s passengers 23 per cent down on April 2006 after allowing for the fall of 330,000.
BAA will ask for state aid to compensate for the £28 million cost incurred by the Icelandic ash cloud, reports the FT. BAA was reported to be losing between £5 million and £6 million a day as a result of closure of UK airspace due to the ash cloud, according to the London Evening Standard.
… BUT PROVIDED A SILVER LINING FOR RESIDENTS AND CHILDREN’S SCHOOLING
Residents around Stansted welcomed peace and quiet resulting from the absence of aircraft and reclaiming the enjoyment of their gardens. And while many schools were disrupted because teachers were stranded abroad by the ash cloud, Berkeley Primary School near Heathrow reported that empty skies boosted pupils’ behaviour and concentration levels. A Facebook group – the Icelandic Volcano Fan Club – celebrating the silence of skies without aircraft has even sprung up.
REVEALED – THE EXTENT OF AIRPORT POLLUTION
Scientists used the no-flying period caused by the ash cloud to show that airports are significant causes of pollution. Pollution near Heathrow and Gatwick during the first three days of the shutdown dropped significantly. Levels of NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) and Nox (oxides of nitrogen, taken together) fell to virtually zero. The analysis, reported in the Independent newspaper, was produced by Ben Barratt and Gary Fuller of the Environmental Research Group at King’s College, London.
The grounding of 63,000 European flights over four days saved 1.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. The Aviation Environment Federation calculated that the CO2 savings over four days had been greater than the annual emissions of Malawi, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and about 50 other developing countries, reported The Times. Aviation is responsible for about 2 per cent of global emissions of CO2 but accounts for a much higher proportion of emissions in Europe. Aircraft are responsible for more than 6 per cent of Britain’s CO2 emissions. On a normal day, the 28,000 flights in European airspace emit about 560,000 tonnes of CO2, or a third of the world’s aviation emissions, says the paper.
NEW TRANSPORT SECRETARY
Philip Hammond has been appointed Secretary of State for Transport in the Coalition Government. He is MP for Runnymede and Weybridge. He was previously the Conservative shadow trade and industry spokesman. Theresa Villiers, the previous (Conservative) shadow transport secretary, is Minister of State (Transport) under Mr Hammond, while the former Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesman Norman Baker is now Parliamentary Under Secretary. Other key appointments are: Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne MP; Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles MP; Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Caroline Spelman MP.
FUNDAY FUNDRAISER DESPITE THE SHOWERS
Despite cold weather and showers, hundreds turned out for the Mayday Funday Sunday at Duton Hill. The programme included a parade through the village, maypole and line dancing, a magic show and fun dog display. Stalls were manned by 50 volunteers and the Duton Hill Yacht Club organised the barbecue. Five Parishes vicar, the Reverend Ivy Crawford judged the children’s ‘mythical beings’ fancy dress competition. Proceeds from this year’s event – around £1,200 – have been donated to the Gardens of Easton Lodge Preservation Trust and SSE. Pictures of the event can be viewed via the Media Centre on SSE’s website where there are also details of Coming Events - see www.stopstanstedexpansion.com.
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