Councils won’t back Southend Airport expansion
20.02.09
Having said just a few months ago that they would back a huge expansion of Southend Airport, which could create more than 7,000 new jobs in the next ten years, the expansion plans could now be in jeopardy, as council bosses are set to abandon its support for the scheme, the Southend Standard reports.
The newspaper reports there have been thousands of objections to the Joint Area Action Plan consultation, which proposes a major expansion of the airport, together with the runway extension across Eastwoodbury Lane. Protest meetings in Eastwood and Leigh have been packed with objectors worried about noise levels and night flying if the airport is allowed to expand.
Both Southend and Rochford Councils backed the airport’s expansion plans, but now following a second consultation, the newspaper says its 'sources' are claiming it would be ‘political suicide’ to support it. Its source at Southend Council said: ‘There is a massive strength of feeling against the expansion. Opposition parties are almost certain to oppose the extension, which would leave the Tories isolated. A lot of the objectors are coming from the Conservative heartlands, like West Leigh and Belfairs.’
The airport was bought last year for £21million by the Stobart Group, which is famed for its Eddie Stobart lorries brand. Airport managing director Alastair Welch said: ‘We have comparisons of the noise contours between 1967, two years ago and how it would be like in 2020 with the runway extension. These show the levels would be dramatically lower than in 1967 when it was using old and noisy planes like the Bristol Freighter and the Carvair. In fact, the levels for 2020 with the runway extension and two million passengers per year would be the same as in 1997.’
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