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Stansted Airport expansion: Good for society or environmental disaster?

The Public Enquiry into the expansion of Stansted airport ended on the 19 October 2007, as this local newspaper, the Bishop’s Stortford Citizen reports. This BBC news article reports, the expansion would potentially double the number of passengers using the airport but could also destroy the quality of life of the local community and local wildlife habitats.

The owners of Stansted airport, BAA Plc are fighting for its expansion - “to give millions of leisure and business travelers the opportunity to travel to more destinations - which is good news for the economy and tourism".

However, near to the airport is Hatfield Forest, a 1000 year old hunting forest threatened by the development. The impact of noise in the region will greatly affect the local community who will loose 73 homes and many wildlife sites.

This article gives concerned local people and environmental campaigners the opportunity to ask questions directly to key Stansted airport business leaders about the environmental and social impact of the runways they use and run, and to key figures opposed to the expansion.

The participants below are willing to answer your questions.

The participants

Stelios Haji-Ioannou

Stelios is head of low cost airline easyJet PLC, one of Europe’s first and largest low cost airlines. The airlines’ 122 planes carried 33 million people in 2006.

Stelios has created more than 17 ventures as part of the easyGroup of companies and in November 2006 Stelios received a knighthood from the Queen for services to entrepreneurship. The Sunday Times Rich list 2007 ranked Stelios 49th in the list of Britain and Ireland’s richest people. He is worth £1.29bn. Please note, the questions Stelios is asked may be answered by a representative of easyJet.

Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Sir Alan Haselhurst is Conservative MP for Saffron Walden, Essex and Stansted airport is part of his constituency. He is also the Deputy Speaker.

Sir Alan has recently spoken at the Public Enquiry against the expansion and says it will have a ‘devastating effect’ on the surrounding area. In a press release on 29 January 2007 Sir Alan said “This benefits no-one in my constituency”.

Carol Barbone

Carol is the Campaign Director of the Stop Stansted Expansion Campaign (SSE), which was established in 2002 to address the threat posed by the expansion plans for Stansted Airport.

SSE’s objective is to contain the development of Stansted Airport within tight limits that are truly sustainable and to protect the quality of life of residents over wide areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk, to preserve our heritage and to protect the natural environment.

People and Topics

Carol Barbone Campaign Director of the Stop Stansted Expansion Campaign
Representative of easyJet Representative of easyJet
Sir Alan Haselhurst MP Conservative MP for Saffron Walden

Your burning questions
Your questions answered

Unanswered Questions

Carol Barbone (Click to show)

@ 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?

Submitted by: Londontowner | 30 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Carol Barbone

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 »

71% of people thought this was a good answer (7 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ Carol Barbone

Aren't the local objections to the expansion of stansted airport just another example of "nimbyism" ?

Submitted by: sunnyday | 25 votes for this..

1 comment | Topic: Business |

Answered by Carol Barbone

There's only one back yard so far as global warming is concerned so the 'Nimby' argument hardly applies.

83% of people thought this was a good answer (6 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ 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?

Submitted by: legaleagle | 21 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Carol Barbone

No idea of the number. SSE is not anti-Stansted or anti-flying. It's a question of moderation and striking the right balance.

67% of people thought this was a good answer (6 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ 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?

Submitted by: karenf | 16 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Carol Barbone

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 »

40% of people thought this was a good answer (5 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ 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?

Submitted by: karenf | 15 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Carol Barbone

Some people would say that we couldn't possibly to do any worse. Of course we could not possibly comment!

25% of people thought this was a good answer (4 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ 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?

Submitted by: stevec | 19 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Carol Barbone

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 »

33% of people thought this was a good answer (3 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ 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?

Submitted by: stevec | 21 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Carol Barbone

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 »

80% of people thought this was a good answer (5 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ 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 »

Submitted by: paul576 | 19 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Carol Barbone

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 »

100% of people thought this was a good answer (2 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ Carol Barbone

Do you believe that the businesses surrounding Stansted can survive in a hugely competitive world if it is not allowed to expand?

Submitted by: paul576 | 28 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Carol Barbone

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 »

89% of people thought this was a good answer (9 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...

Representative of easyJet (Click to show)

@ Representative of easyJet

Why do you think airport expansion is more important than a 1000 year old forest and its wildlife?

Submitted by: mcbryde22 | 14 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Representative of easyJet

Economic growth is NOT more important than the environment, however it is essential we find the right balance, as economic growth gives us the choice and opportunity to be more environmentally conscious... Show more »Economic growth is NOT more important than the environment, however it is essential we find the right balance, as economic growth gives us the choice and opportunity to be more environmentally conscious and active. Show less »

33% of people thought this was a good answer (6 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ Representative of easyJet

What is the evidence that denying airport expansion is harmful to the country?

Submitted by: mcbryde22 | 15 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Representative of easyJet

Airport expansion means a huge economic contribution to the local area, in the form of jobs, but also for inbound tourism and the development of business links.

25% of people thought this was a good answer (4 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ Representative of easyJet

How many planes must there be in the sky/on the ground before a series of major crashes happens with alarming regularity?

Submitted by: mcbryde22 | 14 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Representative of easyJet

This is a ridiculous statement. The UK CAA is one of the world's strictest aviation bodies in the world, safety is absolutely paramount at easyJet and safety standards in the aviation industry have never... Show more »This is a ridiculous statement. The UK CAA is one of the world's strictest aviation bodies in the world, safety is absolutely paramount at easyJet and safety standards in the aviation industry have never been higher. Air travel is by far the safest form of transport. Show less »

22% of people thought this was a good answer (9 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ Representative of easyJet

EasyJet and Ryanair fly 80 % of the flights in and out from Stansted. So they are the companies who profit most from the expansion. What "good" are you going to do with the extra profits? Give them to... Show more »EasyJet and Ryanair fly 80 % of the flights in and out from Stansted. So they are the companies who profit most from the expansion. What "good" are you going to do with the extra profits? Give them to some environmental organisation or charity? Show less »

Submitted by: PikkuMemy | 23 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Representative of easyJet

easyJet is also at the forefront of environmental impact planning, working with Government, agencies, the industry and manufacturers etc to ensure a sustainable future. easyJet flies an average load ... Show more »easyJet is also at the forefront of environmental impact planning, working with Government, agencies, the industry and manufacturers etc to ensure a sustainable future. easyJet flies an average load factor of 85%, as a quoted company on the London Stock Exchange we have a commitment to shareholders to ensure growing profits, which will also allow us to continue to grow and innovate to ensure a sustainable aviation industry. Show less »

25% of people thought this was a good answer (4 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ Representative of easyJet

Have you any plans to increase not only your aircraft fleet, but the size of your aircraft, which will mean in theory, you will be transporting more people with a smaller carbon footprint?

Submitted by: paul576 | 16 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Representative of easyJet

easyJet will continue to grow at a rate of 15% year on year and will maintain Europe's most modern and fuel efficient fleet by bringing in the newest kind of aircraft and retiring the old ones.

25% of people thought this was a good answer (4 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ Representative of easyJet

Have you any plans to fly any trans-atlantic or far-east routes out of Stansted?

Submitted by: frogp89 | 20 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Representative of easyJet

easyJet is a low-cost short haul schedule airline, our focus is Europe, we will not fly long haul / transatlantic as this is a different kind of business model.

40% of people thought this was a good answer (5 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...

Sir Alan Haselhurst MP (Click to show)

@ Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Sir Alan, if we don't build another runway at Stansted, won't we need an additional runway elsewhere in the South? If so, then where would you recommend it be located?

Submitted by: Londontowner | 21 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

I think it is very straightforward, it has to be at Heathrow which is part of the Governments policy and I regret that they chose in their White Paper to put the construction of a 2nd runway at Stansted... Show more »I think it is very straightforward, it has to be at Heathrow which is part of the Governments policy and I regret that they chose in their White Paper to put the construction of a 2nd runway at Stansted ahead of the construction of a 3rd runway at Heathrow. I don’t say that for any ‘nimby’ reason, I look at that purely from the point of view of the interests of British aviation and British business. For good or ill Heathrow has become London’s principal hub airport. The Government has now recognised what it didn’t before the consultation document. You can’t have a 2nd hub airport serving the same catchment area and they know this now. Why was Heathrow chosen originally in the 1940s? It’s in the language of the time to be London’s Civil Aerodrome and it rose higgledy piggledy. Had we got our time over again and been able to anticipate the explosion in air travel we might have done something entirely different. And as late as the 1970s there was a project to build an entirely new airport off the coast, what became known as Maplin sands, that scheme was axed by the succeeding government because by then the first oil shock had taken place and people believed that air travel was going to have a real set back. But within 2 years the demand for air travel bounced back and the then Government had to have a look around and that’s why the attention came back towards Stansted, but Heathrow undeniably is the principle airport. The economics of Heathrow are that it benefits from about 30% of interlining, which means almost by definition a very large percentage of people come through Heathrow on a British airline and go out of Heathrow on a British airline. This is not 100% but it enables British Airways, Virgin an others to say to the person in Denver who wants to get to Naples, and there isn’t a direct flight, to say we will give you the best service and will take you through Heathrow without your feet touching the ground or London itself. Some would argue why do we want that business, but I’m sorry that is part of the aviation industry and I’m in favour of British alliances succeeding against others, because on the whole they are rather good. But then people will only come to London if it gives them access to other destinations or if they do business in London they can exit from London to where they wish to visit. Heathrow at one stage had the reputation of being the busiest airport internationally and had the most flights but it has now slipped to about 5th in the league tables because of our lack of capacity at Heathrow and that is not good for the nation. Whatever one says about environmental considerations, which we do have to take increasingly seriously, no one will stop people flying. Yes, you can look at other ways of dealing with it so whilst we are in the business of flying we want London to be attractive to the businessman and not repelling him. Yes, it is important that we develop the 3rd runway at Heathrow and I know that is opposed by people around Heathrow, but equally there are a lot of people that recognise the economic importance and the significance of jobs in that area which is quite different to what is happening in rural Essex where Stansted is. So we certainly need that runway at Heathrow and I’m not sure that we need another in the South East that aren’t already there which could be utilised. It is interesting to see how London City has blossomed to the extent that it has its developing its own business. There are others that could be brought into use certainly for short haul destinations and so on. What I might add to that is we are very bad in this country to providing support and infrastructure. It took 50 years, having decided on Heathrow, it took 50 years to build an over ground railway and now we are repeating the same thing perhaps not quite as badly in relation to Stansted. It is served essentially by a two track railway which is causing the Stansted Express to become steadily less express as the years pass because there is too much congestion on the line. It only takes one train to break down and everything comes to a halt behind it. Its absurd, why don’t we put in the infrastructure. It’s been the case all along. So Heathrow really is by now by default the principal London airport. You can’t replicate what it does, it is in competition internationally with Charles de Gaulle in Paris and Schiphol and with Frankfurt and if we choose to ignore that then London will decline as an economic and business centre and I don’t believe that is in our interests and I certainly don’t believe that Stansted can be a substitute for what Heathrow offers. Show less »

60% of people thought this was a good answer (5 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Stansted Airport is a gateway to international trading centres for east of England businesses and a major business in its own right providing many trading opportunities for local firms. Economic growth... Show more »Stansted Airport is a gateway to international trading centres for east of England businesses and a major business in its own right providing many trading opportunities for local firms. Economic growth is vital to maintaining the UK as a premier world financial centre and to the competitiveness of the east of England with 80 per cent of the top 500 companies having offices located in the airport’s catchment area. Is Stansted Airport and its expansion critical to the region’s economic development? Show less »

Submitted by: MTyrrell | 22 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Well part of that question is answered by what I’ve just said. I don’t believe that business is the principle beneficiary of Stansted. Obviously Stansted is an economic driver because it has created... Show more »Well part of that question is answered by what I’ve just said. I don’t believe that business is the principle beneficiary of Stansted. Obviously Stansted is an economic driver because it has created 10,000 or more jobs. I don’t deny that and we are in the fortunate position that we don’t have unemployment in my constituency nor in the immediate area around. When Stansted has passed a certain level of activity, people are having to be brought in from further and further a field adding to burden of inadequate road and rail network and causing more people to say well now I’m working here can I buy somewhere to live nearer and these are creating pressures which are not being relieved by investment in the local infrastructure. This is a real problem. But yes the economic growth to which the airport has contributed, as some of the service industries, such as hotels and so on, all of that fine its created work for local people but the more it expands now its creating work for non-local people and I am not sure that this is on balance serving the interests of the country as a whole or the East of England in particular. Show less »

50% of people thought this was a good answer (6 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Are you at all concerned that if the expansion of Stansted doesn't go ahead, businesses which rely on the airport, could move to other suitable airports abroad? e.g Schiphol, Holland.

Submitted by: legaleagle | 16 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Not really, because it is not business in the main that is using Stansted. 90% of air travel generally is leisure and certainly a high percentage at Stansted. You only have to look at the flights that... Show more »Not really, because it is not business in the main that is using Stansted. 90% of air travel generally is leisure and certainly a high percentage at Stansted. You only have to look at the flights that predominate at Stansted. Ryanair represents 70% of the business at Stansted, they offer cheap short haul flights to destinations in Europe principally. From a free market point of view I don’t have a difficulty with people choosing what to do but I think they are paying an artificially low price that is generating travel and we have to balance that good, the right of people to travel; for which I support, I think travel is a good thing; against now what we recognise as the environmental cost. I don’t honestly believe the restriction of growth at Stansted is standing in the way of businesses. Yes, some businessmen use the cheap flights but it’s a tiny minority and Stansted has got capacity enough to be able satisfy that. The further you live from Stansted itself the more you get a general acquiescence in the idea that oh yes it’s a good idea for East Anglian's businesses that we have this growing airport, but reality is different. What other destinations inter-continentally which are served or likely to be served from Stansted, we have a few flights to the USA but if you are a business man in London would you come out to Stansted for the one a day flight to New York when if you go to Heathrow you’ve got eleven flights a day by British Airways alone before you add in the American and other carriers. So if something goes wrong you’ve got the added safety of transferring to another flight. I don’t buy into the argument that this is the answer to the business man’s prayer that Stansted should grow experientially - yes some would take advantage, but if there was proper pricing by some of the other leisure travel then there is ample opportunity for business people to fly from Stansted but I think the evidence shows that it is not really businessmen who are supporting that airport. Show less »

80% of people thought this was a good answer (10 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Are the Conservative Party going to oppose or support the plans of the Government as outlined in the Queens speech of 7 November regarding the planning of major building projects?

Submitted by: karenf | 13 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

It depends what you mean by major building projects. What the Conservative Party have said so far as far as airports are concerned is that they will not support a 2nd runway at Stansted Airport which ... Show more »It depends what you mean by major building projects. What the Conservative Party have said so far as far as airports are concerned is that they will not support a 2nd runway at Stansted Airport which is good news as far as I am concerned but they haven’t committed to other things and I don’t think there is any blanket negativity on behalf of the Conservative Party towards all major building projects. There is an opposition to chop down imposition of housing targets. The Conservative Party is saying if elected as Government they will abolish the regional assemblies from which these targets come and will restore to the local authorities the power to set their own targets. This will come as a relief to my district council in Uttlesford, which is grappling painfully with the need to find provision for an extra 4,200 houses which nobody wants but which the administration has to make a decision and whatever the decision it makes will be unpopular. The Party does not wish to see the imposition of these targets and we believe that local democracy should have a greater control of what happens. Whilst not denying that people who are in need of housing, we are already committed to providing thousands under pre-existing targets but particularly in a rural area like Uttlesford and the Braintree part of my constituency as well. What we need are add-on local housing schemes of which we have got a fair number, which are tailored to people that have some connection with the village. We’ve had a number of successful schemes working with the Rural Housing Trust and these do enable the sons and daughters of long time village residents of having to actually have a chance of owning, renting and part owning houses in their home village. Show less »

67% of people thought this was a good answer (9 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...
@ Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Alan, We hear a lot about the SSE campaign, but how many of your constituents and constituency businesses are contacting you supporting the expansion and how do you decide who to support?

Submitted by: paul576 | 19 votes for this..

0 comments | Topic: Business |

Answered by Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

The answer to that is very few, we had an interesting exchange in the local press recently about the letters, which had appeared. I think in fact the Evening Standard did some investigative work and discovered... Show more »The answer to that is very few, we had an interesting exchange in the local press recently about the letters, which had appeared. I think in fact the Evening Standard did some investigative work and discovered that there was a bogus nature to a number of letters. One of the letters quoted was one that had been sent to me. At the time I had looked at this letter and thought shall I answer it because the person writing was actually from outside of my constituency and it had appeared in the local press. I decided on that occasion not, but there had been a previous one where I had been tempted to write back, not to the newspaper but to the person because it was from an address in the constituency only to find that the person and the address did not exist. And when the Evening Standard revealed that there were about 15 or so such letters all of which were bogus, the finger began to point in a certain direction. So I got into an altercation with BAA who thought I was accusing them of doing it so I wrote an article in the local newspaper it struck me as being astonishing that this was Britain, this was not Zimbabwe and people were free to express an opinion, and the idea that they would be frightened of doing so was ludicrous. But that is just the background and no the answer is I only rarely get a letter from anybody who says yes we think this is an undiluted good thing. It is true to say that the Braintree Chamber of Commerce, which is a bit more distant, so they can speak from the luxury of not being over flown and not having any of the disadvantages who see it as an undiluted benefit for business but they don’t write to me. I’ve just had occasional encounters with them but by and large no the correspondence I get is negative. And that confirms the properly conducted referendum in the District of Uttlesford which revealed that 89% of people were opposed to a 2nd runway and that is on a 69% turnout higher than a general election turnout so I’ve no doubt at all that I reflect vastly the majority of opinion within the District and the Constituency Show less »

78% of people thought this was a good answer (9 votes). Do you think this is a good answer? Yes No Rating ...

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Stansted Airport expansion: Good for society or environmental disaster?

People and Topics

Unanswered Questions

Carol Barbone (Click to show)

@ Carol Barbone

Answered by Carol Barbone

@ Carol Barbone

Answered by Carol Barbone

@ Carol Barbone

Answered by Carol Barbone

@ Carol Barbone

Answered by Carol Barbone

@ Carol Barbone

Answered by Carol Barbone

@ Carol Barbone

Answered by Carol Barbone

@ Carol Barbone

Answered by Carol Barbone

@ Carol Barbone

Answered by Carol Barbone

@ Carol Barbone

Answered by Carol Barbone

Representative of easyJet (Click to show)

@ Representative of easyJet

Answered by Representative of easyJet

@ Representative of easyJet

Answered by Representative of easyJet

@ Representative of easyJet

Answered by Representative of easyJet

@ Representative of easyJet

Answered by Representative of easyJet

@ Representative of easyJet

Answered by Representative of easyJet

@ Representative of easyJet

Answered by Representative of easyJet

Sir Alan Haselhurst MP (Click to show)

@ Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Answered by Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

@ Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Answered by Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

@ Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Answered by Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

@ Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Answered by Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

@ Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

Answered by Sir Alan Haselhurst MP

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