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Plan for Stansted runway unveiled Plan for Stansted runway unveiled
(about 1 hour later)
A controversial planning application to build a second runway at Stansted Airport is being unveiled to the public before being submitted to a council. A controversial planning application to build a second runway at Stansted Airport has been unveiled.
The application to Uttlesford District Council could see the Essex airport, the UK's third busiest, double in size. The airport's operator BAA wants to double the size of the Essex airport.
The proposals have been drawn up by the airport's operator BAA. If approved, the plans would see the new runway and the new terminal built by 2015, and serving 68 million passengers a year by 2030.
Essex County Council and campaign groups say the plan is environmentally disastrous, but business leaders say it is essential for economic growth. BAA said the development would create more than 13,000 jobs and boost the economy by £9 billion but opponents say it would ruin unspoilt countryside.
The new runway and terminal would be built on 442 hectares of land and result in 13 listed buildings being lost, although 10 would be dismantled and rebuilt, BAA said.
Essex County Council and campaign groups say the plan is environmentally disastrous.
Ancient woodland
The Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) campaign group claims the development would ruin 1,000 acres of countryside and ancient woodland.The Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) campaign group claims the development would ruin 1,000 acres of countryside and ancient woodland.
Public inquiry The group described the application as "going beyond environmental vandalism and being tantamount to a declaration of war on the local community and global environment".
SSE's Peter Sanders said: "The application must serve as a rallying call - not just for local people who seek to safeguard this unspoilt area of countryside but for all those who care about our legacy to future generations. SSE's Peter Sanders said: "The application must serve as a rallying call not just for local people who seek to safeguard this unspoilt area of countryside but for all those who care about our legacy to future generations.
"We will fight BAA's plans tooth and nail." "This is a betrayal of a longstanding undertaking to the local community that there would never be a second runway at Stansted.
Essex County Council leader Lord Hanningfield said the second runway would result in more pollution, traffic and noise. "We will fight BAA's plans tooth and nail in what will be a defining test of whether protection of our environment is more highly valued by the government than still more cheap flights and doing BAA's bidding."
He said: "It is time for the government to go back to the drawing board and rethink its aviation strategy." BAA Chairman Sir Nigel Rudd said: "We remain fully committed to building a second runway, a project that is central to government policy in delivering additional runway capacity in the south east.
David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said the development was much-needed. "This important project will bring huge benefits to the East of England and UK economy and will increase choice and opportunity for millions of business and leisure travellers."
He said: "With the UK economy now facing a slowdown, it could not be more crucial that the country's third busiest airport is permitted to expand. The application for the second runway is known as Generation 2 (G2).
"We cannot simply shut up shop and allow our European competitors to benefit." Alastair McDermid, BAA director for Stansted Generation 2, said: "The potential benefit of a second runway is enormous for business growth, for the creation of thousands of new jobs, for supporting inward investment and for boosting inbound tourism."
BAA is currently waiting to hear if it can increase Stansted passenger numbers from 25 million to 35 million a year following a public inquiry in 2007.