Airport expansion - an update

What is happening about the continuing saga of the proposed extension to the airport’s runway. Whilst we were anticipating a debate by the full council in September to consider whether we should allow a variation of the airport lease to allow such extension, and if so on what terms, this has been delayed by court proceedings commenced by a local resident seeking a judicial review of the earlier planning decision. We are now faced with the ridiculous situation that through the legal aid system we as taxpayers are funding an expensive, and in my view speculative court action, and Southend council tax payers are also funding an expensive defence of the claim. This will result in a final bill for the public purse amounting to many tens of thousands of pounds whatever the outcome – hardly helpful in the current economic climate. In the meantime we are unable to move to the real debate namely do we block the runway extension and force the airport to expand on its present runway but with an absence of effective environmental controls, or do we allow the extension but linked to reasonable and effective controls on flight direction, flight numbers, volumes of cargo, increased radar provision etc. This delay only further extends the anxiety of some residents and the commercial uncertainty for the airport not helped by some council members who seem determined to cloud the true debate by misleading the public in suggesting that the Council can somehow stop any airport expansion or unilaterally impose restrictions on night flights, flight numbers or a range of other issues which we cannot. If we are to deliver improved environmental controls and indeed facilitate and harness the commercial benefits that airport expansion can bring we will only do so by being realistic as to our present negotiating position and concentrating on the effective controls that can be delivered.