Following on from the scoping document issued by Stansted airport and detailed here, the airport is now holding 3 events to explain their expansion plans.
The airport has announced that it now plans to increase passenger numbers to 43 million, rather than 44.5 million, which means that it can achieve its expansion plans within currently approved flight and environmental planning limits and so seek a more local level of approval.
In statements, the airport is claiming to have responded to concerns raised in response to its scoping document.
Brian Ross, deputy chairman of Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) commented as follows: “The airport claims it has listened to the local community but it has done no such thing. Its new proposal is just a cynical ploy to try to reduce the level of objection to its planning application and allow the application to be dealt with locally rather than nationally. This is not a retreat from its original plans. All the airport has done is to remove the 44.5mppa projection for 2029 and only project to 2028, which is 43mppa. If the airport genuinely wanted to give the local community long term certainty, it would give us all an assurance that 43mppa would be the limit of its expansion ambitions for Stansted.”
Stansted airport has also completely ignored the fact that, in 2017, noise complaints have increased by 20 times when compared to those recorded in 2015. This increase in complaints is due to the changes in flight path usage introduced in 2016, which moved flights onto Clacton routes over Felsted Parish. We are still awaiting the results from a CAA review, which was due in May of 2017.
Stansted airport has made no proposals to mitigate the problems caused by these flightpath changes, despite receiving submissions from Parishes calling for the reversal of the changes and asking for the spread of flights across the Noise Preferrential Routes (NPRs), rather than focussing them down on the unlucky.
There are however, some signs that the CAA are taking some notice of the massive increase in noise complaints, so it remains important that we continue to complain about noisy planes using the SSE form here.
Stansted must work with Parishes to reduce the impact of the flightpath changes, before planning for further expansion.
We must make our voices heard at these events.
Event dates
Tuesday 21 November 2017
4pm until 8pm
Radisson Blu Hotel, Waltham Close, Stansted Airport, CM24 1PP
Free parking for this session is available at the hotel, on registering at the event.
Thursday 23 November 2017
4pm until 8pm
St Michael’s Church, 1 Windhill, Bishop’s Stortford, CM23 2ND
Friday 1 December 2017
4pm until 8pm
Talberd Room, Foakes Hall, Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, CM6 1DG
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