Posts Tagged ‘Denis Walker’

Longley’s Echo statement challenged

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Dear Mr Longley,

You are quoted in today’s Echo as saying “We recognise the benefits economically for residents, but we as a group will be looking at the airport lease, which is coming up soon, and will be looking for a restricted night usage.”

Could you please explain to which lease you are referring? The main airport lease doesn’t “come up” until 2144 which can hardly be considered “soon”. While there is the provision for quinquennial reviews of the current Section 106 agreement, the last one was due in July last year and while Southend Council claimed it would be happy to be part of such a review, they insisted that Rochford Council, as the planning authority in that case, should instigate such a review. They refused. This means that the next opportunity for such a review will be 19th July 2014, which still doesn’t really count as “soon”.

I would also appreciate an explanation of what economic benefits you believe the residents of the town will receive from the expansion of the airport, given that any profits will be pocketed directly by Stobart. Having done your research, as I am sure you must have, you will know that airports in the UK are responsible for the net loss of in excess of £18bn per year from our economy.

It’s best not to mislead the electorate in the run up to the election.

Regards,


Denis Walker
Press Officer, Stop Airport Extension Now
http://www.saen.org.uk/


Thanks for your e-mail – I’m sorry your dont see any economic benefits to the town or it’s residents and it seens unrealistic to try and persuade you now.

As far as the Lease is concerned I am sure you will remember that the Conservatives made it clear that as part of the expansion of the airport and the planning permission, that the current lease would be re-negotiated with changes to the number of flights etc. Indeed they made big play of the new benefits and restrictions they said they were going to get. This needs to be formerly put before Council before it can be agreed and signed.

It is this negotiation that will come to the scrutiny committee ( the LD group had already asked some weeks ago, for it to be on the next agenda) and it during that debaste we shall see whether further restrictions can be added to the lease to improve things for the residents particularly night closure.

Cllr Graham Longley


Dear Mr Longley,

Thank you for your reply.

I would love to be persuaded that there will be economic benefits for the town from the expansion of the airport, but no-one has yet put any forward. I know that there has been talk of around 7,000 jobs, but the evidence from other airports is that job claims are invariably wildly inflated. To date, all the evidence points to the same thing happening here.

It should be pointed out that any jobs created on the “Saxon Business Park” cannot in good faith be counted towards the total as it would be entirely feasible to build the business park without expanding the airport. Also, as many of the jobs expected to be “created” at the business park would actually be those transferred from the Eldon Way industrial estate in Hockley, it would be disingenuous to claim that they are new jobs.

It would appear that what you are referring to is the Section 106 agreement attached to the planning application and not the lease. That document has not yet come into effect and to date, we have only seen a draft prepared by the airport themselves which is, unsurprisingly, weighted overwhelmingly in their favour. Cllr Holdcroft has been on record to say how that document has been carefully negotiated, but it currently provides no adequate protection for residents under the flight path.

Given the restrictions in force at other airports (such as Southampton and London City), it would not be unreasonable to expect the night flights to be capped at a monthly total of either ten or none at all and all the exceptions made for Quota Count exempt planes to be removed. It is entirely understandable that emergency aircraft movements may in exceptional circumstances be required, for example in the delivery of human organs for transplant. As a transplant recipient myself, I would obviously support such aircraft movements.

However, freight movements would not fall into this category and given the draft S106 agreement’s current ban of passenger night flights, this is what the majority of night flights would be. It is abundantly clear from recent comments to the press from Stobart Chief Executive Andrew Tinkler that the company’s purchase of Southend Airport was motivated by their “multimodal” freight strategy and however much Alastair Welch protests that it wasn’t, the S106 agreement again backs the assertion up because 10% of all flights are allowed to be freight.

I take it that the Scrutiny Committee meeting will be open to the public. Could you tell me when it is due to take place please?

Regards,


Denis Walker
Press Officer, Stop Airport Extension Now
http://www.saen.org.uk/


Mr Walker

I don’t wish to sound officious but I am aware of the difference between a Lease and 106 planning arrangements.

I confirm that the lease is still in the process of final negotiation and a report of the details and conditions will come to scrutiny and council before final approval. In the meantime we have the opportunity of putting forward alternative and additional suggestions for discussion.

The Borough’s Forward Plan shows this on page 6 of the plan and enables us as councillors to raise the matter and make alternative suggestions. Should you not be happy with my response feel free to check with officers of the council. I might add, as before, that it would seem unlikely that the administration would accept any more restrictions but we can try so we will be putting forward other ideas.

All scrutiny meetings are open to the public although I had better add that if a matter (eg negoiation details) are considered to be confidential then they will be moved into private.

Cllr Graham Longley


Dear Mr Longley,

Could you confirm to which lease you are referring then? Surely not the main airport lease, which runs until 2144? From reading the draft S106 agreement, it appeared that it was that document in which the so-called restrictions on night flights were being set.

As I asked in my previous email, could you confirm the date of the scrutiny meeting please?

Regards,


Denis Walker
Press Officer, Stop Airport Extension Now
http://www.saen.org.uk/


Mr Walker

The lease is the lease!

Currently the date is not yet fixed – as far a I am aware, in that, the lease is not yet ready.

Cllr Graham Longley


Dear Mr Longley,

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate that you are taking the time to answer my questions. Councillors of the administration don’t answer as promptly, if at all.

My understanding is that there are several separate leases for land at the airport, so if you could shed any light on which one(s) are being worked on, that would be most helpful. If you are aware of any documents on the Council website that refer to these, I would appreciate being directed to them.

The leases I am aware of are:

* Main Airport lease
* 10 acre field lease
* 5.7 acre field lease
* RESA lease

Regards,


Denis Walker
Press Officer, Stop Airport Extension Now
http://www.saen.org.uk/


Mr Walker

You are right to say there are a number of leases to specific plots etc and on any one of those, if any conditions were changed then it could asffect the overall outcome. The officers have just or are just appointing consutants (yes more) to look at and advise on bringing all leases under one but also ensuring that any change would be tax efficient.

Until they report back with recommenations we can go no further or know when scrutiny will see it again.

Other than what we have done, under the “forward plan” process is to ask to discuss it in advane of or at the same time as and put forward suggestions for inclusion etc and n our case we shall be persuing the night closure period no matter how short.

Cllr Graham Longley

Government Minister must approve extension of runway

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

THE expansion of Southend Airport will not go ahead without the approval of a Government minister, it has been announced.

Even if Southend Council approves the plan to extend the runway across Eastwoodbury Lane, it will still need the go-ahead from Government Minister John Denham.

Mr Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, will either approve the plan or call it in for a public inquiry.

The council’s development control committee is meeting today to discuss the plans. If the committee refuses the application, the plans are dead. [Not strictly true, as the airport could appeal the decision.]

But if it is approved, the decision is put on hold until the Secretary of State decides he will not intervene or he decides to “call in” the application.

This means there would be a public inquiry about the plan, chaired by a Government planning inspector.

The Secretary of State is not required to reach a decision with any specific timescale, but aims to deal with it “as quickly as possible”.

Anti-expansion pressure group Stop Airport [Extension] Now welcomed the news.

Spokesman Denis Walker said: “The direction means it’s much more likely there will be a public inquiry and that’s good news.

“This is what we’ve been asking for ever since the planning application was submitted.

“Leaving this decision to Southend Council means there wouldn’t be proper scrutiny of it.

“Without a public inquiry, there would be no cross-examination of evidence or full scrutiny in public.

“This major decision would be left entirely in the hands of a process designed to approve extensions to houses.”

Inquiry delay would be ‘frustrating’

THE leader of Southend Council said he is concerned plans to expand the airport could be delayed by the Government’s decision.

Tory leader Nigel Holdcroft said: “There was always the possibility the Government would issue the directive, therefore, it doesn’t come as a great surprise.

“Obviously, the application will still be considered on its merits by the development control team.

“Hopefully, the Secretary of State reviews the situation promptly and decides as quickly as possible to call the matter in if the committee approves it.

“If it’s called in for a public inquiry, it would lead to a significant delay which the airport organisers would find very frustrating.”

Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Southend West, Peter Welch, said he welcomed the Government’s decision.

About John Denham

JOHN Denham is the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Mr Denham, 56, has been Labour MP for Southampton Itchen since 1992 and has been the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government since June.

He recently hit the headlines for claiming class was a more significant factor in 21st-century Britain than race.

Re: Prejudging the JAAP?

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Nigel,

Thank you for your reply. I will address your comments inline for ease of reference.

On 19 Nov 2009, at 08:25, CllrHoldcroft wrote:

Denis

I refer to your e mail.

Frankly I am not convinced that the meeting was particularly helpful in clarifying the debate. Obviously many of the attendees had pretty fixed views either one way or the other and the format did not allow a great deal of clarification on the issues of concern. However in my experience this is not unusual with a meeting of this kind.

Leaving aside for a moment the particular format chosen, a public meeting of any type will clearly be more informative than no meeting at all. As Southend Borough Council has so far held no public meetings to discuss the airport’s expansion proposals, we can only judge on the meetings held by Leigh Town Council.

If you believe a better format could be adopted, then I urge you to call such a meeting at the earliest opportunity.

I get the sense that SBC has essentially adopted the position of Renaissance Southend in supporting the airport for economic reasons. While you will appreciate that based on my current understanding I dispute those reasons, I would very much appreciate the opportunity to attend a meeting at which the Council explained its position and the reasoning behind it. I am sure that most SAEN supporters would agree with me.

I am unsure why you suggest that the DC meeting has been moved. At present it is my understanding that we continue to work towards a meeting on 20th January.

The “Target Determination Date” is now 1st February on the “Important Dates” page of the planning application. Previously, it was 11th January. This is the only information I have to go on. If the Target Determination Date is not the date intended for the DCC meeting, I don’t know where I would be able to obtain that information.

What has most definitely changed, however, is the “Expiry Date for Standard Consultations”, which was until very recently 20th November. It is now 1st December and as I said in my previous email, could you tell me please the reason for this change?

I am not prepared to trawl through back issues of the Echo and accordingly am not able to confirm the accuracy or otherwise of comments previously attributed to me. All I would make clear is that at all times during this process I have commented on the basis of the advice being received and believing my comments to be accurate.

I wasn’t expecting you to “trawl through back issues of the Echo”. This is why I provided the links to the articles in question on the Echo’s website. As you have not addressed these issues, I will ask again.

You told us in June that:

“NO decisions will be made about the airport expansion, until the results of the joint area action plan are known”

You will find this quote at http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/local_news/southend/4452482.Airport_plan__Demolish_church_wall_and_cottages/

Your statement is clear. I have no reason to doubt that you said this and it is a very sensible thing to say. However, we now find ourselves in the situation that the results of the JAAP are not known and a decision is to be made about the airport expansion by Southend Borough Council’s Development Control Committee.

As I am sure you have been aware from the outset, a relevant planning application could come in at any time during the JAAP process. Surely the Council had planned for this contingency? If not, why not? Did they expect Stobart to be honourable and wait for the JAAP process to conclude? You only have to look at the way they have behaved towards Carlisle City Council regarding their other airport to know that this is not something you can expect of them.

Taking the runway extension and associated alterations out of the JAAP makes it essentially meaningless, as I am sure you appreciate. Broadly speaking, the only element of the plan left is the so-called “Saxon Business Park”, which while in my opinion is ill-advised, would clearly not bring the devastating effects to the town that the runway extension and associated airport expansion would.

Regarding your second quote in September from the article at http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/local_news/4638219.Runway_plan_imminent_for_Southend_Airport/ :

“Since there has already been a preliminary inquiry, then I would expect an application to be coming forward soon.

“Inevitably, whatever the decision made by the development control committee, the application will have to go to a public inquiry.”

I am still unclear as to what “preliminary inquiry” you were referring to and seek clarification on the application *having* to go to a public inquiry.

With regard to the information requested in your final paragraph pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I would suggest that you submit this request to John Williams Head of Legal and Democratic Services at the Council. It is the Council that is a public authority which is subject to the Act – not individual councillors. I understand that SAEN has already made a number of FOI requests for information to Mr Williams, so you will have the contact details

I have done this, although it took ten minutes to locate John Williams’ email address – I eventually found it in an email from Amanda Barness. As his address is simply johnwilliams@southend.gov.uk you could have just said that rather than writing a whole sentence about me already having his contact details.

I look forward to your reply to the issues raised above. I should point out that I am writing not merely for my own benefit but in order to inform the SAEN membership and the wider public of Southend on the Council’s position.

Regards,


Denis Walker
Press Officer, Stop Airport Extension Now

http://www.saen.org.uk/

RE: Prejudging the JAAP?

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Denis

I refer to your e mail.

Frankly I am not convinced that the meeting was particularly helpful in clarifying the debate. Obviously many of the attendees had pretty fixed views either one way or the other and the format did not allow a great deal of clarification on the issues of concern. However in my experience this is not unusual with a meeting of this kind.

I am unsure why you suggest that the DC meeting has been moved. At present it is my understanding that we continue to work towards a meeting on 20th January.

I am not prepared to trawl through back issues of the Echo and accordingly am not able to confirm the accuracy or otherwise of comments previously attributed to me. All I would make clear is that at all times during this process I have commented on the basis of the advice being received and believing my comments to be accurate.

With regard to the information requested in your final paragraph pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I would suggest that you submit this request to John Williams Head of Legal and Democratic Services at the Council. It is the Council that is a public authority which is subject to the Act – not individual councillors. I understand that SAEN has already made a number of FOI requests for information to Mr Williams, so you will have the contact details

Nigel Holdcroft

RE: This evening’s meeting

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Denis – Thank you for your note.

I feel the tone of the note simply reinforces the benefit that we would both
gain from sitting down and discussing your concerns. I have written to your
Chairman on a number of occasions inviting her to meet with me – for the
avoidance of doubt – there is an open invitation for you to sit down and
meet with me to discuss your concerns – you have my contact details.

An illustration of the reason it may be helpful to sit down – on Friday you
were reading Boeing data suggesting the A319 was louder than the 146. What
you did not mention (although your website has highlighted it on a number of
occasions in the past) is that the 319 is payload restricted on take off
with 1800m distance – ie it cannot reach the USA etc. The noise at max
takeoff from Southend (with a longer runway)is less than the A319 at max
take off weight for Southend. If it would be helpful, I would be happy to
sit down and run through this.

I don’t think it would be helpful to run through the rest of your note -
Suffice it to say you are wrong on the meeting item, wrong on the
airportwatch representative, wrong that my PA was even there etc etc.

I could counter with on buzzword bingo – but my aim is for a constructive
dialogue based on fact and I have no wish to make this trivial.

As I say – open invitation to you to meet with me.

Regards, Alastair.

Whatever happened to the airport meeting?

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

The deserted departure lounge

The deserted departure lounge featuring display boards about the proposed expansion.


Dear Mr Welch,

I was disappointed this evening to find that the Departure Lounge was locked and there was nobody about. A Jennie Johnson of Eastwoodbury Lane had previously issued leaflets advertising a meeting at 7pm today in the Departure Lounge, which we were told would be “An Airport Update by Alistair Welch”.

I since learned from Ms Johnson that she had decided not to attend this evening. However, given that you told us on Friday that you are keen to meet members of the SAEN committee I had hoped you would make yourself available in any case.

It is a shame that you had expressed fear at appearing on the same panel as a knowledgeable expert from AirportWatch, which as we all knew long before the meeting was the real reason for Roger Wood’s invitation being withdrawn. It’s also pretty low to have your PA in the audience, heckling. My personal carbon emissions are hardly relevant to the debate even though I don’t own a car and have never flown.

I look forward to another opportunity to discuss the airport’s proposals with you in public. There is little point in us meeting in private (not that you have ever invited me to do so) as it is far easier to communicate by letter or email, particularly as we then have a record of what we have each said.

Regards,


Denis Walker
Press Officer, Stop Airport Extension Now

http://www.saen.org.uk/

Prejudging the JAAP?

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Dear Nigel,

It was good to have an opportunity to share a platform with you on Friday evening at the Leigh Town Council public meeting and I hope you will agree that such meetings are very helpful to the public in terms of getting at the facts behind the spin presented by the airport. It would be good if Southend Borough Council were to host a few such events prior to the Development Control Committee’s meeting, which I note has now been moved to February.

The extension of the “Standard Consultations” deadline to 1st December is a welcome move and I would be interested to hear the reason for this change.

My main reason for writing is to check the veracity of some statements attributed to you in the Echo as they appear to be at odds with the situation we currently find ourselves in.

In the Echo of 23rd June we have:

NO decisions will be made about the airport expansion, until the results of the joint area action plan are known, council leader Nigel Holdcroft has said.

“You could suggest the airport is anxious to keep the pressure on the council to make some decision on its proposals. However, we have not yet fully analysed the results of the Joint Area Action Plan consultation which has put forward options for the airport’s future.

“It is an extremely complex issue and we cannot take a decision quickly without looking closely at all the issues involved.”

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/local_news/southend/4452482.Airport_plan__Demolish_church_wall_and_cottages/

Clearly the results of the JAAP are a long way off as the process has been suspended while a planning application to extend the runway is dealt with. This planning application will determine the most significant and controversial element of the JAAP without even the full report into the second phase of consultation being published, which as we know from SAEN’s Freedom of Information battle with Rochford Council will show that over three quarters of respondents object to both the runway extension and the JAAP as a whole.

Are we to take it from your June statement that the Development Control Committee is to defer its decision on the planning application until after the JAAP process has been concluded? If not, an explanation for this change of policy is required.

You also state in the Echo on 21st September:

“Since there has already been a preliminary inquiry, then I would expect an application to be coming forward soon.

“Inevitably, whatever the decision made by the development control committee, the application will have to go to a public inquiry.”

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/local_news/4638219.Runway_plan_imminent_for_Southend_Airport/

Could you explain what “preliminary inquiry” you were referring to in your statement above?

Clearly you were expecting the planning application to be submitted prior to the conclusion of the JAAP at this point. Given that the JAAP process involves an Examination in Public presided over by an independent Planning Inspector, surely this rigorous testing of the JAAP as a whole would be desirable prior to the determination of individual elements of the Plan (i.e. the runway extension).

While we’re on the subject of prior determination, I note that Rob Tinlin raises this as a potential problem in an email in early October, before the planning application had been submitted. How is it that the suspension of the JAAP avoids this issue given that the Preferred Options document makes it quite clear that both Southend and Rochford Councils support the extension of the runway at Southend Airport. Clearly this is a major element of the JAAP and would feature in the final document to be examined in public before being submitted to the Secretary of State. By taking this element out of the JAAP, the people of Southend and Rochford (and any other interested parties) are being deprived of an opportunity to examine these proposals in detail at the planning policy stage.

As he told the public on Friday, Cllr Alan Crystall will not be able to take part in the Development Control Committee meeting examining the airport’s planning application. Are any other DCC members currently barred from taking part? I have heard that some are. I know, for example, that Cllr Gwen Horrigan has shown clear support for the runway extension at public meetings in the recent past. Are barred members replaced by other Councillors or are their seats left empty? As these are procedural matters on which you will hold records, I should point out that the requests in this paragraph are made under the Freedom of Information Act and I look forward to your response within 20 working days.

Regards,


Denis Walker
Press Officer, Stop Airport Extension Now

http://www.saen.org.uk/

Rochford Council’s position on runway extension planning application

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Dear Mr Scrutton,

No doubt you will be incensed at the temerity of the Stobart group in submitting an application for planning permission to extend the runway at Southend Airport part-way through the Joint Area Action Plan process being conducted at the time by your Council and Southend Borough Council to decide joint policy on, among other things, that very issue.

I trust therefore that Rochford District Council’s Development Control Committee will be expressing in the strongest terms the Council’s anger at this move and insist that Southend Borough Council defers the decision until after the JAAP process has been concluded.

I presume also that the Council will want to take the earliest opportunity to instruct the Government Office for the East of England that it is their desire to have the application called in for determination by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham MP following a Public Inquiry at which the Council and all other parties will be given the opportunity to test the airport’s various assertions as to the benefits of the runway extension and put forward their own views.

I look forward to your prompt response.

Yours sincerely,


Denis Walker
Press Officer, Stop Airport Extension Now

http://www.saen.org.uk/

Airport given a hard time at Leigh meeting

Friday, November 13th, 2009
LTC Public Meeting, 13th Nov 2009

LTC Public Meeting, 13th Nov 2009

Leigh Town Council held a meeting this evening to give the public an opportunity to find out more about the airport’s expansion plans and what impact they would have particularly for people living under the flight path in Leigh. Around 180 people attended.

The panel was made up of Rob Matthews and Alistair Welch of Southend Airport, Nigel Holdcroft and Andy Lewis of Southend Borough Council and Denis Walker of SAEN and South East Essex Friends of the Earth.

Roger Wood, a campaigner from LADACAN (the Luton Airport equivalent of SAEN) and the Aviation Environment Federation had accepted an invitation to appear on the panel two days previously, but his invitation was withdrawn a few hours later by Leigh Town Council on the basis that he didn’t live in Leigh.

The airport revealed that during that afternoon, they had concluded negotiations with Network Rail and National Express to build their proposed station at a cost of around £12m. No other new information was forthcoming from them.

David Amess, MP for Southend West was unable to attend the meeting but presented his apologies and a statement in which he asked for the audience to vote on whether they wanted the decision to go to a Public Inquiry. However, there was confusion among the panellists (including those from Southend Borough Council) as to whether it was necessary to call the planning application in before or after the decision was made. Mr Amess’s statement made specific reference to calling the application in after it had been decided by Southend Council’s Development Control Committee and it is possible that he was only talking in terms of an appeal if planning permission was refused. We will investigate this matter further and keep you informed. Update: We now have a copy of Mr Amess’s statement. Analysis to follow shortly.

Towards the end of the meeting Cllr Alan Crystall, a member of Southend Council’s Development Control Committee (DCC), stood up and gave his view that the runway should not be extended. This would have barred him from taking part in the DCC’s decision were it not for the fact that he had already been barred for making comments opposing the expansion previously. He brought up the matter of the Government’s lack of support for expansion to 2 million passengers per year, which was then challenged by Alistair Welch, whose documentation indicates support from the Government.

However, Denis Walker then read out the following statement made by the East of England Regional Assembly in their response to Phase 2 of the JAAP:

The JAAP does include the support and identified role of the airport contained in the 2003 Air Transport White Paper (ATWP). However, contrary to JAAP policy LS1, neither the ATWP nor the East of England Plan identifies growth at London Southend of up to two million passengers per annum (mppa). The two mppa figure was an assumption used in the demand and impact appraisal work and was based on the maximum use of the runways at the major airports and no new runway capacity.

Given that the ATWP supported new runways at Stansted and Heathrow, the role for Southend that is supported was not for two mppa, but to meet local demand and the needs of business aviation. This is reflected in policy E7 and paragraph 4.31 of the East of England Plan.

This is just one example of the numerous factual inaccuracies to be found in the Airport’s planning application and we will share others as they come to light.

James Duddridge MP: Refusal to oppose airport extension

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
JAMES DUDDRIDGE MP

HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SW1A 0AA

Our ref: RSE8241

19th November 2008

Dear Mr Walker

Thank you for meeting with me on 7th November to discuss the Climate Change Bill where you requested I sign EDM 2226 and asked for my involvement in the Stop Airport Expansion Now campaign.

Whilst supportive of EDM 2226- Renewable Energy Tariff Amendment to the Energy Bill, I am not prepared to sign this particular EDM. In this case I would prefer to express my support in my own terms rather than by signing up to someone else’s. Unless the case is a very clear cut one and the EDM has been written to a high standard I generally am not prepared to sign them. I do not believe that this is the case with this particular EDM and so do not wish to sign it.

Additionally we briefly discussed the Stop Airport Expansion Now campaign. As previously discussed at other meetings I am broadly in favour of airport expansion for reasons we have previously discussed. Therefore I will not be adding my name to the campaign. However, I assure you that I shall listen to all sides of the debate given to me by constituents on this issue, and will take your views into account in the same way.

Once again thay you for meeting with me to discuss these issues.

Yours sincerely

James Duddridge MP


Note that Conservatives, including Mr Duddridge, oppose the expansion of Heathrow Airport:


JAMES DUDDRIDGE MP

HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SW1A 0AA

Our ref: RSE8241

27th November 2008

Dear Mr Walker

Thank you for your email regarding EDM 2344 ‘Government Policy on Heathrow Third Runway Expansion’. Unfortunately as the Parliamentary session has ended I am unable to sign any further EDM’s. Please feel free to contact me about similar EDM’s in the next Parliamentary session if you wish.

Yours sincerely

James Duddridge MP