[says Terry Davies]

Calls for a public inquiry into the airport runway extension application are unjustified and should be rejected without reservation.

On November 6 Echo Comment said: “The plans are not riding roughshod over anybody. Indeed, they have been fundamentally shaped by public opinion and environmental considerations”.

It went on to say: “The priority now is to make expansion happen”.

Now, inexplicably, the Echo is joining with those calling for a public inquiry!

Is it any wonder that some residents are confused over this issue?

Last month’s Leigh Town Council public meeting, consisted of a small fraction of the less than 1 per cent of the population of Southend and Rochford who objected to the plans when they were outlined in the JAAP public consultation.

This less than one in a hundred is hardly reason to hold a public inquiry.

David Amess MP and others are obviously hoping to scupper the ambitions of Southend Airport and with them the economic future of south-east Essex, but for what purpose?

Stobarts has agreed, after much consultation with the two local authorities, that the extended runway would be subject to various operating restrictions, these include freight and night flights.

As I understand it, if their application is not approved, then that agreement will not apply.

In these hard economic times, one does not have to be an Einstein to work out the possible consequences of such a short-sighted decision.

Terry Davies
Steyning Avenue
Southend