Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

BAA Stansted managing director, Terry Morgan, vowed to appeal the Council's decision to block the so-called ‘Generation 1’ application, which asked to increase annual passenger throughput to approximately 35 million, bumping up air transport movements from 241,000 to 264,000.

The airport has repeatedly argued that public inquiries of the kind that delayed Heathrow's T5 by a number of years achieve little other than delay the inevitable, waste millions of pounds and hand advantage to competing airports on the Continent.

The denial of permission to expand even its existing runway does not bode well for an easy passage for its planned second runway, but Stansted remains bullish.

Morgan said: “Let’s be clear. This planning application is all about growth on the existing single runway at Stansted, it has nothing to do with our plans for a second runway. That will be an entirely separate planning application to be made next year.

“Having said that, we are disappointed Uttlesford District Council has been unable to support our application for growth on the existing single runway at the airport.

“Effectively, the Council is wanting to cap passenger numbers at the current level, which contradicts government policy and flies in the face of the interests of the record number of leisure and business travellers – tens of thousands of whom are local – who see Stansted as an affordable gateway to destinations and opportunities around the world.

“We intend to immediately appeal against this decision and will take our case to a public inquiry.”

The UK’s leading business organisation, the CBI, expressed its disappointment at the decision. Regional director, Richard Tunnicliffe, said: “In refusing this application the Council has adopted a short-sighted position which is bad news for business and for all of us who want to see the region prosper.

“Stansted Airport is only second behind Heathrow in terms of international business passengers who use the airport as a gateway to major international markets. Allowing the airport to grow is one of the key factors to the continued prosperity and competitiveness of the East of England region.”

Also wading in against the Council, Jerry Golland, chair of the East of England IoD, said: “Aviation is vitally important to the UK economy, providing access to markets, encouraging inward investment and promoting tourism. Indeed in 2005, 74 per cent of the 30 million overseas visitors to the UK arrived by air and spent over £12.2 billion.

“Limiting growth at Stansted will harm tourism, cut inward investment and damage the region’s economy.”

BAA estimates that the Generation 1 application would mean an estimated 1.5 million extra business passengers using Stansted compared to current figures. It also says that an extra 750,000 foreign tourists would visit the region annually and over 3,000 extra jobs would be created by 2014 .

The economic benefits were called into question in the Officer's report to the Council, which stated: “The forecast economic benefits of the proposed development, particularly in the light of the costing of economic consequences of climate change set out in the Stern Report, have not been demonstrated strongly enough for them to be so over riding as to outweigh all other factors.”

Among the eight other factors the report cited in recommending refusal of the application were noise, quality of life for local residents, air and water quality, as well as travel infrastructure weaknesses.

Despite the obvious setback that the Council's refusal represents, Morgan remains bullish about the prospects for overturning it: “No-one should be in any doubt that we remain very confident of the case we have made and that this will be fully recognised at the Public Inquiry,” he said.

Peter Sanders, chairman of Stop Stansted Expansion said: "I very much hope BAA will respect the decision of our local, democratically elected council. BAA keeps claiming that it listens to what local people say and that it wants to be a good neighbour working in partnership with the local community. If BAA is serious about this, it will not appeal the decision."