Airport expansion & SAEN

I was asked yesterday to comment on BBC Radio Essex about the High Court decision and was followed by Denis Walker - local supported of SAEN and Friends of the Earth. 3 things struck me from his comments. It was interesting that he regarded a decision by a specialist High Court judge that the claims were not even arguable as an unsurprising first step and further pursual of the matter with the backing of legal aid as apparently inevitable. He made much of the SAEN "community contribution" as justifying the financial support the organisation is giving to the application. I would be interested to know hom much this is in the context of the costs incurred to date. Finally he continued to argue that the majority of residents of the town are opposed to airport expansion.That is not borne out by my experience canvassing door to door, speaking at public meetings or from my e mail inbox.