Predictable

IT WAS entirely predictable that councillors on the Development Control Committee of Uttlesford District Council (UDC), eyeing future elections and representing the majority of the residents of Uttlesford, recently rejected the application for an extension to the current runway at Stansted Airport.

No bookmaker would take my bet against a refusal of the application. The committee instead ducked and hid behind a variety of spurious reasons and its inability to defy misinformed populist demand.

This was despite the fact that passenger traffic (that's you and me) continues to rise as the demand for air travel increases and that the airport, situated in open countryside, is essential for the continued growth of this region and our country.

The Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) campaign has always fought a strong and well meaning campaign, using all the tricks and earnest protestations available to it, the great 'environmental catastrophe bogeyman' being one, closely followed by 'excessive noise' and so on ad infinitum.

I look forward to the next ploy which they will produce from their bottomless bag to fuel further protest and debate.

Meanwhile, the M11 motorway and the A120 stand as monuments to central government planning, speeding traffic across the region and disgorging an ever increasing number of travellers into the airport's portals to receive an equal amount in return.

This is a testament to the utilitarian value of the airport and its economic benefit to the region of Essex and the United Kingdom.

I now read that the SSE 'hobbyists,' for that's what they are, are seeking £100,000 for a fighting fund to represent those parts of the community who support them. I expect that UDC, mindful of their seats, will also allocate scarce financial resources.

The lawyers, analysts, so- called experts in the new science of 'doom mongering' will be rubbing their hands and ordering the latest 4x4 as they continue to confuse, misinform and appeal to the sentiment of gullible Uttlesford residents.

So please, do not come calling with your begging bowls to me. I do not work there and have no other interest in Stansted, but support its expansion and the second runway - it's called progress.

Anthony Robertson Arkesden