I wrote the following article in March for the April edition of Stansted’s magazine The Link. The full article can be read here at page 22.

NEWS FROM UTTLESFORD DISTRICT COUNCIL Cllr Alan Dean writes: The long-awaited planning application from the airport to raise the limit on passenger numbers was received by UDC in February. They want a new cap of 43 million passengers a year. Present throughput is just over 25 million and is capped at 35 million. Airport management says it wants longer-term certainty before making large investments to improve the terminals. Questions have been raised about whether the application is premature, whether they are trying to avoid scrutiny by national government by pitching the increase below 10 million passengers and whether contributions towards national commitments for carbon emissions will be acceptable. Uttlesford has a reputation for being rigorous in its evaluation of airport planning applications, so I will be watching that the council doesn’t readily roll over this time.

Sadly, so far I feel let down by the way STANSTED AIRPORT LIMITED’S PLANNING APPLICATION UTT/18/0460/FUL has been handled. I submitted this formal representation on 30 April and will continue to press for a more open and consultative approach to the way it is handled from now onwards to ensure that all issues are comprehensively examined and that corners are not cut so that a decision can be made quickly and prematurely. 

Representations can still be sent in to Uttlesford District Council, even though the formal deadline was on Monday. Use this link –  PLANNING APPLICATION , insert the reference UTT/18/0460/FUL and go to “Make a Comment”.