1. Londontowner asked Carol Barbone: "Carol, cheap foreign holidays are enormously important to many people. Do you believe we should take fewer holidays overseas in order to reduce the need to build additional runway capacity?"
2. Carol Barbone answer: "80% of all flights are taken by 11% of the population. It's not the annual summer holiday that needs to be curbed but there must be a question mark over whether it is sustainable for a minority of the..." Show more»" 80% of all flights are taken by 11% of the population. It's not the annual summer holiday that needs to be curbed but there must be a question mark over whether it is sustainable for a minority of the population to be constantly jetting off for short leisure breaks to the Continent, simply because its cheaper than a weekend break in the Cotswolds or the Norfolk Broads or wherever. And the reason its cheaper is that airlines pay no fuel duty, no VAT and don't have to meet their environmental costs. So the price is artifically low. This makes no sense either from an environmental standpoint or from an economic standpoint. "Show less«
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4. 0 comment   |  Topic: Business   |   Email to friends   |   Nov 28 2007 1:26:28 PM

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1. sunnyday asked Carol Barbone: "Aren't the local objections to the expansion of stansted airport just another example of "nimbyism" ?"
2. Carol Barbone answer: "There's only one back yard so far as global warming is concerned so the 'Nimby' argument hardly applies."
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4. 1 comment   |  Topic: Business   |   Email to friends   |   Nov 28 2007 1:24:21 PM

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1. legaleagle asked Carol Barbone: "Can you tell me how many flights have been made by SSE members in or out of stansted in the last 2 years?"
2. Carol Barbone answer: "No idea of the number. SSE is not anti-Stansted or anti-flying. It's a question of moderation and striking the right balance."
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4. 0 comment   |  Topic: Business   |   Email to friends   |   Nov 28 2007 1:23:24 PM

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1. karenf asked Carol Barbone: "How many of your members have moved into the area knowing at the time their is a potentially expanding international airport close by?"
2. Carol Barbone answer: "In 1985, the Government gave an unequivocal guarantee that Stansted would not be permitted to expand beyond 25mppa. I would guess a lot of people made the foolish mistake of taking the Government at its..." Show more»" In 1985, the Government gave an unequivocal guarantee that Stansted would not be permitted to expand beyond 25mppa. I would guess a lot of people made the foolish mistake of taking the Government at its word. "Show less«
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4. 0 comment   |  Topic: Business   |   Email to friends   |   Nov 28 2007 1:21:27 PM

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1. karenf asked Carol Barbone: "Bearing in mind BAA's been in the business of running airports for many years. Do you think SSE members are able to run the airport more sustainably than BAA?"
2. Carol Barbone answer: "Some people would say that we couldn't possibly to do any worse. Of course we could not possibly comment!"
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4. 0 comment   |  Topic: Business   |   Email to friends   |   Nov 28 2007 1:20:37 PM

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1. stevec asked Carol Barbone: "Carol, Stop Stansted Expansion Campaign Groups objective is to contain the development of Stansted airport within tight limits - how do you propose the airport is to develop without expansion? "
2. Carol Barbone answer: "Stansted Airport has an opportunity, within the present planning permission to grow to 25 million passengers a year and to double its cargo operations. It should also focus more on meeting the needs of..." Show more»" Stansted Airport has an opportunity, within the present planning permission to grow to 25 million passengers a year and to double its cargo operations. It should also focus more on meeting the needs of business travel and less on cheap leisure flights. And it has an opportunity to develop more long haul services which would better service the needs of the East of England Region instead of its present focus as the UK mecca for cheap flights to Europe. There is also much which could be done to reduce the adverse impacts of the airport, for example by banning the noisiest planes, improving the rail infrastucture so as to take pressure off the roads, and ending night flights. If BAA showed a genuine willingness to minimise the worst impacts of the airport, there would be scope for constructive dialogue between SSE and BAA. "Show less«
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4. 0 comment   |  Topic: Business   |   Email to friends   |   Nov 28 2007 1:19:32 PM

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1. stevec asked Carol Barbone: "If the airport is not allowed to expand how safe are the businesses that rely wholely on the trade that the airport brings e.g taxi's, aircraft maintenance, catering, hotels, and shops? "
2. Carol Barbone answer: "No-one is suggesting the airport should contract or be closed. The key priority is to develop a broadly-based, diverse local economy which is not over-dependent on any single industry or employer. We ..." Show more»" No-one is suggesting the airport should contract or be closed. The key priority is to develop a broadly-based, diverse local economy which is not over-dependent on any single industry or employer. We have all seen what can happen when there is over dependency and something goes wrong, for example in the coal-mining towns of Yorkshire, the shipyards of Tyneside or the steelworks of South Wales. We are not predicting Stansted's imminent demise but there are long term risks to every industry and aviation is no exception. The local economy has thrived for more than 200 years precisely because it has been dynamic and broadly based. We should keep it that way and not have too many eggs in one basket. "Show less«
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4. 0 comment   |  Topic: Business   |   Email to friends   |   Nov 28 2007 1:18:15 PM

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1. paul576 asked Carol Barbone: "What is SSE's view of the Government's plans as outlined in last weeks queens speech in relation to the streamlining of all major planning matters, e.g. airports, power stations, and large housing developments...." Show more »"What is SSE's view of the Government's plans as outlined in last weeks queens speech in relation to the streamlining of all major planning matters, e.g. airports, power stations, and large housing developments. The queens speech is available on the Number 10 website at: http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page13707.asp" Show less »
2. Carol Barbone answer: "SSE is not persuaded that there is anything dreadfully wrong with the current UK planning system. If our planning system was so much worse that our EU competitors, why has the UK economy out-performed..." Show more»" SSE is not persuaded that there is anything dreadfully wrong with the current UK planning system. If our planning system was so much worse that our EU competitors, why has the UK economy out-performed all of them for the past 15 years? The 7 years it took for Heathrow T5 to get planning approval is often quoted as evidence that our planning system is too slow. This was a very lengthy public inquiry (by comparison the recent Stansted public inquiry took 5 months). It is also worth noting that it took more than 10 years for Frankfurt Airport to get permission for its new runway. Would better decisions be made if speed was the main priority rather than thorough examination of the issues? Under the current system the developer has to prove his case and can be questioned in detail on behalf of local residents and their elected representatives. We believe that it would damage the democratic process if all this were to be centralised and decisions made by an unelected quango. There is also a risk that if people felt they were powerless to object under a new centralised fast-track planning system, they would look for 'less civilised' ways to express their opposition. The Government should tread carefully before changing a planning system which has been tried and tested and which has generally worked very well for many years. "Show less«
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4. 0 comment   |  Topic: Business   |   Email to friends   |   Nov 28 2007 1:17:05 PM

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1. paul576 asked Carol Barbone: "Do you believe that the businesses surrounding Stansted can survive in a hugely competitive world if it is not allowed to expand?"
2. Carol Barbone answer: "Stansted does bring important benefits to the local economy but the proposed expansion of Stansted to handle an extra 10 million passengers a year (10 mppa) would not have a major impact on the local ..." Show more»" Stansted does bring important benefits to the local economy but the proposed expansion of Stansted to handle an extra 10 million passengers a year (10 mppa) would not have a major impact on the local economy one way or the other. It would be primarily to cater for more outbound leisure trips and only 290,000 of the additional 10mppa would be business passengers. It is a question of balance and one of the main difficulties in the local economy is a shortage of available employees to fill the jobs available. Expansion of Stansted would exacerbate this problem, cause more overheating and require airport workers to be recruited from much further afield, including overseas, with implications for housing and other local services. "Show less«
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4. 0 comment   |  Topic: Business   |   Email to friends   |   Nov 28 2007 1:15:08 PM

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