I am a married retired aircraft engineer born in Southend, have lived in Rochford for 43 years and worked at the airport in the sixties and seventies. My main objections are:

NOISE

The impact on the local residents including myself and my wife will be intolerable. The statement that the aircraft using the airport will be quieter is not valid due to the fact this will only be relevant if the runway is long enough ie similar to Stansted, Luton and Gatwick where they are able to use noise abatement procedures. The extension proposed in the airport plan will come nowhere near this, which means to achieve the correct climb out they will have to use full power and this WILL be heard by thousands of residents. This information was obtained from my son and a very close friend of mine who are both airline pilots and have a good operating knowledge of this airport and the aircraft which could be using it.

ROAD TRAFFIC

The impact on local traffic will be chaotic, particularly with regard to the proposed closure of Eastwoodbury Lane, as this takes most of the overload from the A127, I know this a I use it almost on a daily basis. To close it would put all the west bound and east bound commuter traffic back on to the A127 which, if you live in the area you will know is very congested both morning and afternoons from Southend to Rayleigh and beyond and suffers serious accidents almost on a daily basis.

The roundabout at the airport itself is frequently blocked by cars queuing to get into the business park, I have been stuck there many times.

In addition, all the other Airports serving London are adjacent to or very close to motorways, we just have the A127 which as previously stated is grossly inadequate even with todays traffic.

NEW RAILWAY STATION

I think the envisaged use of the station is overstated, I have travelled to many places in the world by air for business and pleasure and from all the airports serving London and I have never once used the train as it is too inconvenient, unreliable and expensive.

ENVIRONMENT

Finally having lived in Rochford for a very long time I have seen it change from a busy and pleasant market town to an overcrowded urban sprawl.

Take the new square!!! Shops still empty, often covered with litter, and frequented by youths, and at times looking deserted, I call that bad planning. I think the Council Planners would do well to look at our local infrastructure and amenities instead of trying to over populate the area with more business parks and dual carriageways going nowhere.

I will close by quoting an article in the evening echo by Richard Evans head of environmental services who says:

"Clean air is important for the health of our residents, and it is important that we know our businesses are staying below legal limits for emissions."

"I am also pleased to announce we are on target to meet this 100 per cent figure again this year, reinforcing our status as one of the most attractive districts in Essex in which to live."

I suggest the proposals you are putting forward are totally at odds with this statement and will have the opposite effect.

The current level of operations are just tolerable as they are, and the expansion of the airport and the surrounding area is not necessary or appropriate for the future well being of this District.