The Government Office for the East of England is a member of the Airport Access Forum at Stansted and Luton and is also working with the airport authorities at Stansted, Luton, Norwich and Southend as they develop their Masterplans for future development.
The Government Office for the East of England is playing a major role in making sure that the policies in the Air Transport White Paper (published in December 2003) are being taken forward in the region. This includes discussions with BAA over their future plans for Stansted Airport and, in particular, how they are planning to ensure that the surface access to the airport is appropriate.
The major policies in the Air Transport White Paper which affect the region are:
- There is an urgent need for additional runway capacity in the South East
- The first priority is to make best use of the existing runways, including the remaining capacity at Stansted and Luton
- The first new runway should be at Stansted, to be delivered as soon as possible (around 2011 or 2012)
- The development of Alconbury (an ex-USAF base) for passenger or freight services is not supported, but the potential for the relocation there of aircraft maintenance operations from Cambridge is recognised
- There is scope for other existing South East airports, including Norwich and some smaller airports to help meet local demand and their further development is supported in principle, subject to relevant environmental considerations.
A judicial review in February 2005 upheld the Government's support for two new runways in the South East in the period up to 2030 but decided that the Government was too prescriptive (in the Air Transport White Paper) in specifying the exact location and type of runway at Stansted, and also it should not have given the impression of supporting the airport operator's option for Luton without recognising that full consultation should be undertaken.
The Government continues to stand by this policy and will carry on moving forward with the White Paper programme and will report on progress in 2006.
The Government continues to support a new runway at Stansted as the first new runway in the South East. It is for BAA, the airport operator to bring forward detailed proposals to be taken through the planning system in the normal way.
