It’s been a long battle, but we now have the official results of Phase 2 of consultation on the Joint Area Action Plan. SAEN submitted a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office in June after Rochford Council failed to provide information we requested under the Freedom of Information Act. It is as a result of this complaint that Rochford Council has today been forced to publish the number of objections they received.
The figures are now available on Rochford Council’s website at:
http://www.rochford.gov.uk/pdf/JAAP_representations_summary.pdf
As noted in the preamble of that document, the numerical breakdown we now have isn’t the whole picture. It is the content of people’s objections that counts, but Rochford Council are still withholding this information in the case of submissions made on paper. Another document is due to be published by the Council at a later date providing a proper analysis of the results, but given the overwhelming opposition to the airport’s expansion, it’s obvious that they are very reluctant to publish.
BBC London News is running the story this evening (6:30pm, BBC1 London). Fran and I were interviewed and no doubt Alistair Welch will do his usual “Jobs, jobs, jobs” routine.
Our press release is available at:
http://www.saen.org.uk/2009/11/huge-opposition-to-airport-expansion-revealed/
Tags: Freedom of Information, JAAP, Rochford District Council, SAEN