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Stansted Airport: Council criticised for rejecting expansion plan

BBC Image of the front of London Stansted AirportBBC
Stansted wanted two new taxiway links and nine additional aircraft stands to enable combined airfield operations of 274,000 aircraft movements a year

A decision to block major expansion of Stansted Airport was made "without clear evidential justification", an independent report said.

Uttlesford District Council in Essex refused permission in 2020 to allow growth to 43 million passengers a year, but it was overturned on appeal.

The report by Evershed Sutherlands said the rejection was informed by "then-unsubstantiated representations".

The council will vote on implementing a change to its constitution.

The airport already had permission to increase passenger numbers from 28 to 35 million.

The report said the decision to reject the further increase was "politically motivated" and was partly based on representations made by local residents groups such as Stop Stansted Expansion.

The Residents for Uttlesford group has been running the council since it won control from the Conservatives in the 2019 local elections.

Council chief executive Peter Holt told the scrutiny committee that out of 42 key meetings about the airport, only two had been properly documented, reported the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Several councillors argued there was not enough evidence for Evershed Sutherlands to reach the report's conclusions, partly because of the missing records.

PA Media Image of the departure lounge inside Stansted AirportPA Media
Stansted's application to expand to 43 million passengers a year was first submitted in February 2018 and initially approved by the council

Conservative Christian Criscione said he agreed with the parts of the report which suggested the planning committee had acted without evidence and with political motivation.

He said a "cultural shift" was now required by the council to become more pragmatic in decision making.

Petrina Lees, leader of the council, said: "The council commissioned this long and complex independent expert review so lessons could be learned... and will be looking to implement the positive procedural changes that have been recommended."

But the committee reconvened in January 2020 after a "material change in circumstances" and voted to refuse planning permission.

Stansted Airport appealed to the government's Planning Inspectorate in July that year and, after a public inquiry in early 2021, permission was granted and full costs were awarded against Uttlesford District Council.

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