ABBESS, BEAUCHAMP & BERNERS RODING
PARISH COUNCIL
Threeways, Little Laver Road, Matching Green, Harlow, Essex, CM17 0QB. 01279 731660
Planning Ref: UTT0717 06 FUL
Uttlesford District Council
The Planning Office UDC,
London Road,
Saffron Walden,
Essex,
CB11 4ER
Dear Sir,
Stop Stansted Expansion,
Stansted Generation 1 Planning Application
This Council objects to the planning application on the following grounds.
Air Noise
Our Parish suffers from aircraft noise despite being well outside the 57dB Laeq contour area. Perhaps 57 dB is valid for an urban area with a high level of background noise, but in the quiet of the countryside aircraft noise is much more noticeable. We find it intrusive and irritating enough now; it will be completely unacceptable at the proposed level of ATM’s, especially if there is an increase in night flights.
Aircraft manufacturers are continuously reducing aircraft noise. We consider that such reductions should not be fully utilised to increase ATM’s, some margin should be left for improving the quality of life of those people subjected to aircraft noise. A 50/50 share seems reasonable.
Traffic Congestion
Our main emergency services (police, ambulance) are based in the centre of Harlow. Their response times are seriously affected by traffic congestion on the A414 and M11 Junction 7. This will get worse as the number of passengers using Stansted Airport increases. This situation will be further exacerbated by the Stansted/M11 corridor developments proposed in the Draft East of England Plan. This situation is recognised in the current (2006/2011) Essex Transport Plan, but during the plan period solutions will only be evaluated, they will not be implemented until the next plan period of 2012/2017. The Stansted Generation 1 application indicates that the single runway capacity of 35 mmpa will be reached by 2014/15. There is a strong probability that the necessary transport infrastructure improvements will not be complete in time. We believe that not only should there be a limit set for the number of passengers per year, but also it should be phased to be consistent with the Essex Transport Plan.
Off Airport Parking
We are suffering from the effects of off airport parking in our parish, with large numbers of additional vehicles using narrow lanes that are totally unsuitable for such traffic volumes. If the number of passengers using the airport increases more rapidly than the planned increase in on airport parking there will be even more off airport parking springing up in unsuitable rural locations. This is another reason for specifying and carefully phasing any permitted increase in passenger numbers.
Yours faithfully,
David Barlow
Parish Clerk