Last night’s Extraordinary Uttlesford Council Meeting motion to ask for councillors to take a further look in public at the details of the legal Planning Obligation (S.106) tied to airport expansion was defeated by 18 votes to 14. The meeting was akin to an imaginary airport emergency in which the bosses hadn’t a clue what […]

The Liberal Democrats have published their election manifesto for the Uttlesford District Council elections on May 2nd: IMPROVING LIFE IN UTTLESFORD AFTER MAY 2019 AN AMBITIOUS LIBERAL DEMOCRAT VISION FOR UTTLESFORD DISTRICT It is in five sections: Growing local businesses and local employment Delivering housing that is truly affordable for everyone Protecting and enhancing the […]

The linked letter has been sent to The Rt. Hon. James Brokenshire MP calling on him to call-in the decision of Uttlesford District Council’s Planning Committee to expand the throughput of Stansted Airport. I told local newspapers this week: “The decision was made on national party-political grounds. It should have been based on local planning policies, […]

Uttlesford’s planning committee has voted to allow the number of  passengers using Stansted Airport to increase by over 50%. They claimed that this was necessary to help save the national economy from the effects of Brexit. The chairman of the committee had to break a tied five-all vote by using his casting vote to permit […]

Over two days this week, seventy-eight people spoke to Uttlesford’s Planning Committee. I was one of them. They were giving their views on whether or not Stansted Airport Limited (STAL) should be allowed to lift the existing passenger cap of 35 million per annum (mppa). Needless to say there were passionate speeches in favour of […]

I wrote to the local press today:- Something is wrong at the heart of Uttlesford District Council as it struggles to complete two major exercises that are important not only for this district. The first is a critically important Local Plan for the future of the district. If UDC does not publish an updated plan […]

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 […]

As a P.S. to my post of yesterday I provided a link to Stop Stansted Expansion’s press release and letter to the Secretary of State about Stansted Airport Limited’s (STAL) planning application for an increase in the airport’s capacity. The SSE letter provides some worrying allegations about the way in which Uttlesford District Council has been […]

The following press release as issued today (PDF): Uttlesford’s Liberal Democrat group leader, Cllr Alan Dean, says “Uttlesford must step up to the mark over airport expansion at Stansted. Its approach so far has been too laid back and opaque. UDC has given the impression that the airport’s application to have 43 million passengers a […]

Let’s start this post with optimism – I will use my blog more often. Not quite a new year resolution; more a good intention. I started 2017 with the following:  Optimism comes from the belief that people will follow leaders who speak the truth and take the population with them, rather than seduce them with false promises that lead everyone into […]