Object
London Southend Airport and Environs Joint Area Action Plan Submission Document
Representation ID: 32378
Received: 26/03/2013
Respondent: Mr Bishop
Legally compliant? No
Sound? No
Duty to co-operate? Not specified
Southend Airport has more housing in its immediate vicinity than any other regional airport in the UK. It is therefore grossly misleading for the JAAP document to suggest that the local councils have done anything to limit or reduce the number of people who suffer from aircraft noise. The councils have failed in their duty of care to the local population by doing everything in their power to increase flights and noise. The disgraceful decision to allow night flights poses a serious threat to the health of the people who now have to suffer absolute misery caused by the irresponsible and callous expansion of the airport. The document is unsound, it is based upon a series of false assumptions, including the claim that it will create jobs and that the airport is in any way 'sustainable'. Operations at Southend Airport are sucking money out of the UK economy by encouraging ever larger numbers of people to take holidays abroad. And it is impossible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by flying ever more aircraft. The first year of operations at the airport indicate that around 500 jobs have been created, of which around half were transferred from Stansted. However an analysis provided by SEEFoE suggests that the number of tourists who travelled abroad exported around £300 million from the UK economy, which is equivalent to over 10,000 jobs lost to the Essex/London economy. Worse still the councils have squandered public money on various facilities associated with the airport and the airport has stripped £millions out of the local economy by devaluing property near the airport and flight path.
I write to you to express my disgust at Rochford and Southend Councils Development and JAAP Plans for Southend Airport.
You are destroying Rochford, my home and birthplace, Eastwood Church (my baptism) Eastwood my childhood home, and Rochford Church (home of my ancestors) with noise and pollution etc.
Also you are allowing the destruction of wildlife of the River Roach, the most unspoilt river area on the east coast.
This river teamed with kingfishers, egrets and heron (etc), all gone or killed from upper Roach.
It has Canada and Brent geese by flocks of hundreds, all under threat of culling. The river is a breading ground for seals, and last summer porpoise.
It is a valuable shellfish industry which can easily be killed off by pollution, ie airport antifreeze, chemicals etc.
Unacceptable!
The roads can't take any increase in traffic, you say people must walk or cycle (the disabled?), you wish to destroy an industrial site for planes, build a new one in a flood area?, when the first is unfulfilled!, and claim 5000 new jobs (this smacks of madness).
There is no road or infrastructure for this development in our delicate area.