The government's airport expansion policy is in tatters, campaigners said today after it emerged that a planning decision on a second runway at Stansted is unlikely to be taken before the general election. An independent planning inquiry into expanding Britain's third-largest airport will not end until September next year at the earliest, according to planning experts. The Conservative party has promised to scrap proposals for new runways at Stansted and Heathrow.

The government has already conceded that a Heathrow planning application is not expected until 2012.

A senior planning official at Essex county council, which is leading local political opposition to the Stansted runway, said the inquiry would probably begin in September and last a year, with another four months before a recommendation is handed to ministers. "It is likely that the inquiry will last a minimum of one year so it will be in the next administration before there is a decision," said David Dash, project manager for the councils opposing Stansted's expansion. Even if the planning inspector finds in favour of a second runway, the recommendation can be overturned by the government.

The Stop Stansted Expansion group said the likelihood of a slip in the timetable left the government's airport policy in trouble. "The policy is in tatters, but the government does not want to step back and admit it. Ultimately it will be the Conservatives who will put the knife in," said Carol Barbone, campaign director at SSE.

Read the full article in The Guardian.


It has been apparent for a long time that expansion is unnecessary, yet members of the government appear to be the only people who don't realise it.

Yet again, politicians in power are totally disconnected from reality.