THE campaign by protesters belonging to Stop Airport Extension Now (SAEN) has suffered a further setback with Judge Waksman, conducting a two-day hearing into a claim by a Leigh woman, Laura Millard, dismissed the case claiming it was a ‘hopeless’ argument to claim that Southend Council’s decision was irrational.

Ms Millard had an earlier claim for a full judicial review dismissed had then opted for an oral hearing.

She wanted the council’s decision to give the go-ahead for the runway extension to be reviewed and repealed.

She also claimed that her human rights had been breached.

But Judge Waksman concluded: “On a careful analysis, there is simply nothing in any of the grounds alleged and, accordingly, no case for a judicial review.”

He said he was also rejecting her claims about her human rights – even though her counsel, Gregory Jones argued that the council had disregarded its obligations under the Human Rights Act when it considered the issue of night flights.

The judge ruled, however, that the council had secured an agreement with the airport that night flights would take off and land away from Leigh.

“In future she would be less affected by noise at night than she is now,” he added. [This is untrue as flight direction depends on wind direction.]

West Leigh Coun Nigel Holdcroft, leader of Southend Council, has revealed that the council has already spent £35,000 fighting the legal challenges in the High Court.

This, he said, was money the council could ill afford to spend at a time when huge cuts had to be made in its expenditure.

There is still one hurdle for the airport to vercome before it can go ahead with the work to extend the runway – and that involves a possible public inquiry over the blocking off of Eastwoodbury Lane.

in the meantime, though, work is proceeding at a pace to build the new road from Eastwoodbury Lane to Nestuda Way.

The airport is now working to a tight schedule if it is to have the runway extension operating in time for the Olympic Games next year.

Managing director Alastair Welch told guests at the Rochford District Council’s annual dinner that when the new terminal is complete air passengers using Southend would have the shortest walk from a terminal to a rail station of any airport in Europe.

But as one door closed for the protesters another one opened when it was revealed that the European Parliament had taken up the petition, with almost 3,000 signatures, presented to them by Southend West MP David Amess calling for an inquiry into the expansion’s environmental impacts.

Mr Amess promoted the petition to the European Parliament after the Government rejected protests by local residents rather than hold a public inquiry.

The European Parliament does not have powers to over-rule the Government or Southend Council, but can ask the European Commission to put together a report on the issue for the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions.

The aim of the petition is for Brussels to put pressure on the British Government to hold an inquiry.

LEIGH Lib Dem Coun Peter Wexham, who has been consistently against the expansion of the airport from the beginning, supported his leader’s motion at the council meeting that the airport should be closed at night.

He pointed out, for example, that at Southampton, which Southend Airport was supposed to be modelling itself on, allowed only 100 night flights a year!

Coun Wexham told the council: “[A] Majority of the people I represent want a closure of the airport at night. I was talking to a lady this afternoon and when she asked me how many night flights there would be I told her it would average out at around four a night.

“Her reply was: ‘It’s like a baby waking you up four times a night. Thank you very much.’”

He went on to dispute the argument that planes using Southend would be of the ‘silent type’.

“I haven’t come across a silent jet aircraft yet,” he said. “Southend will have to accept what aircraft the airlines send in. It won’t have any say in the matter.”

He also challenged the council over the need for the airport to stay open at night to accommodate planes arriving during the night for maintenance.

“Why can’t these aircraft be scheduled to arrive during the day?” he asked.

His final swipe was against Southend Council for making decisions that did nothing to reduce the amount of carbon released into the air.

He pointed out the work that had been done to ease the position of cars using the borough’s roads – and now there was this decision to allow the expansion of the airport.

SOUTHEND Airport’s expansion plans cleared another hurdle last week when Southend Council agreed the leasing arrangements – which included the restrictions on the number of night flights permitted.

These are being restricted to just 120 movements a month over an extended night period of 7.5 hours – from 23.00 to 06.30. The Lib Dem group of concillors wanted the airport closed at night, but they were the only ones who voted for this. The Tories, Labour and Independents all voted against.

In the current lease up to 915 movements are allowed per month in a six-hour period from 23.59-06.00 – equivalent to 30 per night. [However, the airport has not been using these. The maximum number of flights in a month during the last few years was 63 in May 2008. During December 2010, there were 7 night flights.]

A report to councillors said: “The new operational controls will substantially reduce the figure to 120 movements per month in the extended night period.

“This is an 87% reduction [on flights that haven't been happening] and means an average of only four movements per night – two arrivals and two departures.

“Only aircraft with a noise count of one or less will be permitted to land or depart during the night period and there is a total ban on helicopters – expect those operated by the emergency services. This means that noisier aircraft will not be permitted to operate at night.

“In addition, passenger flights will be prohibited after 23.30 0 which, in any event, will count towards the night quota.”

The report also explained that the terms of the new lease would protect Leigh residents from night noise [by inflicting it on Rochford instead] through the establishment of a night time runway preference arrangement.

“Aircraft operating at night, will where safe and practicable, [i.e. when the wind happens not to be coming from the south west, which is the prevailing wind direction] be directed to take-off to the north-east – over Rochford – whilst aircraft landing at night will be directed to land from the north-east.

“This will minimise over flying of residential areas to the south-west of the airport – i.e. in the direction of Leigh.”

The officers’ report also explained that the proposed night flight restrictions of 120 movements per month included an allowance for up to 90 passenger flights per month to be scheduled to land in the first half hour of the designated night period i.e. between 23.00 and 23.30.

“It is emphasised,” the report went on, “that any such operations would come from the night time quota limit. The night flight allowance also importantly allows any delayed aircraft to land, therefore avoiding inconvenience to passengers.

“On the basis that the allowance of 90 flights per month arrive in the period 23.00-23.30hrs only one movement per night would be allowed by an aircraft before the quota was used up.”

The Liberal Democrats group, through their leader, Coun Graham Longley, and seconded by Leigh Coun Peter Wexham moved that there should be a total ban on night time flying.

The officers’ report said that very careful consideration had been given to this.

“Such a closure is, however, considered to be neither economically or socially desirable,” said the report. “Closure would compromise the airport’s ability to maintain or further develop its reputation as a leading centre of aircraft engineering within Europe and would cause significant operation problems.

“The airport provides vital night time operations which provide significant benefits including for example the emergency service flights such as air ambulance and medical transplant flights as well as military flights.”

The report also pointed out that the reputation of the maintenance section at the airport had been built on airlines knowing they could access the airport when they needed to.

“Aircraft come from all over the world for maintenance at the airport including America, Asia, Africa as well as Europe.

“Arrival times vary according to different factors – including wind conditions in flight.

“A flight inbound for maintenance from China or Kazakhstan which would be planned to take seven hours could, in fact, take between six and eight hours depending on conditions en route. A closure of the airport at night could result in the absurd situation of an aircraft circling overhead Southend awaiting the airport’s opening.” [Except of course, this is utter nonsense.]

From: John Beckett, Woodcutters Avenue, Leigh.

Although many Southend councillors don’t like the idea of a public inquiry called by the Secretary of State on the stopping up of Eastwoodbury Lane for a runway extension at Southend Airport, I think it is important to point out o the Government that a runway extension could be an environmental disaster for our region. With Stobart exploiting the runway extension for his largest planes and for his freight business which could include many night flights.

Southend councillors tell us they will put restrictions on night flights, but how much influence would they have over the Stobart Group, who have invested a large amount of money in the airport and obviously want it to work to their advantage.

I would like to point out, I am not a member of the campaigning group, SAEN, just a resident living in Belfairs, which is quite a pleasant [area] to live [in] at the moment.