Airports policy 'in tatters' as Stansted runway plans delayed again

Published 11th May 2009

The government's airport expansion policy is in tatters, campaigners said today after it emerged that a planning decision on a second runway at Stansted is unlikely to be taken before the general election.

An independent planning inquiry into expanding Britain's third-largest airport will not end until September next year at the earliest, according to planning experts. The Conservative party has promised to scrap proposals for new runways at Stansted and Heathrow.

The government has already conceded that a Heathrow planning application is not expected until 2012.

A senior planning official at Essex county council, which is leading local political opposition to the Stansted runway, said the inquiry would probably begin in September and last a year, with another four months before a recommendation is handed to ministers. "It is likely that the inquiry will last a minimum of one year so it will be in the next administration before there is a decision," said David Dash, project manager for the councils opposing Stansted's expansion. Even if the planning inspector finds in favour of a second runway, the recommendation can be overturned by the government.

The Stop Stansted Expansion group said the likelihood of a slip in the timetable left the government's airport policy in trouble. "The policy is in tatters, but the government does not want to step back and admit it. Ultimately it will be the Conservatives who will put the knife in," said Carol Barbone, campaign director at SSE.

The government's airports policy states that south-east England's overcrowded airports should have new runways at Stansted and Heathrow.

The transport secretary, Geoff Hoon, backed proposals for a third runway at Heathrow in January but that plan has also floundered. According to a presentation by the Department for Transport, seen by the Guardian, BAA is not expected to seek planning permission until 2012.

Theresa Villiers, the shadow transport secretary, said: "Like Heathrow, the government's plans for an extra runway at Stansted have collapsed. A Conservative government would put the final nail in the coffin for this unpopular and unnecessary new runway."

BAA has already pushed back the opening date of a second runway at Stansted by two years because there are not enough passengers to meet demand. A new runway is now earmarked for 2017, after BAA conceded that it would not attract the necessary 35 million passengers a year until well into the next decade.

The Department for Transport said that despite the recession, the south-east would still need new runways by 2030.

The communities secretary, Hazel Blears, has postponed the Stansted planning inquiry until BAA decides whether to push ahead with an application. BAA will decide over the next fortnight whether to go ahead with the Stansted planning application or to leave it in the hands of a new owner once it has sold the airport.

The group is deciding whether to appeal against a competition commission ruling that it must sell Stansted, Gatwick and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport over the next two years. If BAA sells Stansted, it could decide against spending millions more pounds on legal fees to develop a runway that will benefit a competitor.

A BAA spokesman said that overcrowded airports were damaging the economy. "If we fail to respond positively to this difficult question, then we will simply cede economic advantage to other more ambitious economies across Europe and the Middle East."

Source: ' Guardian '

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