Archived press release

Council blocks Stansted expansion

29 November 2006

Plans to expand Stansted airport were thrown into disarray today when the local planning authority rejected plans to double the number of passengers using the airport. Friends of the Earth has welcomed the decision and called on the Government to abandon airport expansion plans. The environmental campaign group warned that the Government will not meet its target for cutting UK carbon dioxide emissions if new runways are built.

Earlier today the Planning Committee of Uttlesford District Council rejected an application by BAA to substantially increase the number of passengers using the Essex airport.

Friends of the Earth's Aviation Campaigner, Richard Dyer commented:-

"We are delighted that the local authority has rejected BAA's application for a huge rise in passenger numbers at Stansted airport. The Government's airport expansion plans are completely unsustainable, and will lead to a massive increase in carbon dioxide emissions.

Transport Secretary, Douglas Alexander must wake up to the threat posed by global climate change and urgently rethink his department's aviation strategy."

"We are delighted that one of the reasons for turning down this application was because of concerns about the impact that more air passengers will have on climate change. In the next few weeks the Government will publish new guidelines on planning and climate change. This will make it easier for developments that cut carbon dioxide emissions tackle climate change to be given the green light. But it must also spell out that a project's impact on climate change is reasonable grounds for refusal.

Uttlesford's planning officers recommended that the BAA expansion application should be turned down. Nine reasons were given for refusal, these included the impact on: climate change, noise, air quality, road and rail networks, water consumption and local quality of life.

Furthermore, officers said that the economic benefits have not been demonstrated to be strong enough to outweigh other factors.

It's likely that the airport operator BAA will appeal this decision which will then go to a public enquiry to be held in 2007.

Aviation is the fastest growing source of climate changing emissions, last year the Tyndall centre for Climate Change found that if the growth in air travel rises as predicted it could use up the UK's entire carbon allowance by 2050 [1].

This view was recently confirmed by the Environmental Change Institute from Oxford University who found that the UK `will be unable to meet its targets for reducing climate change impacts without action to curb the demand for air travel' [2]

A new briefing on aviation and climate change from Friends of the Earth is at:-

www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/alexanders_first_test.pdf (PDF)

The Government is due to publish a progress review of its aviation white paper before Christmas, Friends of the Earth is part of the Airportwatch campaign coalition's Rethink! Campaign which is calling for a fundamental policy review [3].

The Government has announced that it will introduce a new law to cut UK carbon dioxide emissions. The campaign for new climate legislation has been led by Friends of the Earth through The Big Ask climate campaign (www.thebigask.com). The Government is consulting about the details of the new law.

The local campaign is called Stop Stansted Expansion:

www.stopstanstedexpansion.com/

Notes

1. www.tyndall.ac.uk/media/press_releases/tyndallpr21sep.pdf (PDF)

2. www.eci.ox.ac.uk/research/energy/predictanddecide.php

3. www.rethink.airportwatch.org.uk/

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust