Q4.10 What do you consider to be the transport priorities for the JAAP?

Effecting a major shift in travel away from car use towards public transport, walking and cycling.

Improvements to A127 at Progress Rd, Kent Elms, The Bell and Cuckoo Corner.
Improve public transport links, particularly the bus network. The current fleet of buses is old and shabby and does not encourage more regular use. If it doesn't already exist (don't think it does), introduce a ticket that is valid on trains and buses in the Southend/Rochford area.

It is important that either there is an 'on-site' station or there is a bus link between the nearest appropriate station and the airport to meet all trains. Bus services should be able to easily access the airport and if en route the diversion to serve the airport should be kept to a minimum so as not to disenfranchise users of the service who have no interest in going to the airport.
For those travelling by car the road system will need to be upgraded to cope and not to have adverse impacts on bus services.

A bus link to Rochford Station.

1. Noise and other environmental implications, particularly from night flights, on the immediate and surrounding areas (eg Hockley, Hawkwell) must be carefully assessed and controlled
2. Road transport links to/from the airport and its surrounds need to be carefully considered and addressed. Consideration also needs to be taken of current proposals to build additional houses in the area (eg Hawkwell).
The combined effect of development (at the airport and also in villages like Hawkwell) on adjoining towns like Hockley needs to be carefully addressed.

I am grateful for this opportunity of responding to your letter of 9th July. Any plan to improve Southend Airport should be welcomed by everybody in the area. The Scenario 3 as outlined in your letter certainly presents us with a chance to move forward on this issue.

The South East Essex region would benefit in several ways from improvements to air services to mainland Europe and beyond. If the upgrading of the airport were to take place, the present tedious journeys to Gatwick, Heathrow, London City and Stansted could be avoided as well as attracting increased tourism and business from the continent especially with the 2012 Olympic Games in mind.

It would appear to me that unless action is taken soon on the future of the airport the whole of the Southend area may slide into decline, with the exception of the new container port on the Thames, and this is perhaps another good reason for expanding the airport services. Consideration must be given to the inevitable increased volume of traffic in the area where roads are not designed for large and heavy lorries. Suitable improvements will be necessary if congestion is not to reach intolerable levels.

Sadly, i feel that in the present financial climate, unless there is a substantial input of Government funds or the E.U., this whole plan is unlikely to take place, which in my mind is a great pity.

Once again, thank you for the opportunity to comment on the plan, and I should appreciate being kept up to date with developments.

p.s. However thoroughly the consultation document is reported in the press and media, there will always be those with a negative attitude to ANY plan.

An updated user friendly, reliable bus service. Safer cycle routes.

Thank you for sending me the brochure re:- the proposed development of Southend Airport.

I have grave concerns for the future of residents like ourselves on the impact of a larger airport and extended runway at this airport.

Apart from the noise levels, when we are in our back garden (which we love) on a number of occasions when the planes are about to take off, our whole garden and conservatory fill up with emission fumes, the taste and smell of these fumes in your noise and mouth are very distressing and we have to come indoors until the fumes have gone away, this has had a real impact on our quality of life in our home and garden, and we know we are breathing in carcinogenic fumes from these aircrafts, so with bigger and more aircrafts taking off this will definitively affect our future health and lives.

The other big concern is night flights, I was told by the airport that they have a 24hrs permit to fly aircrafts at night and we fear that this will also start to happen in the future as the airport starts to grow, so this again will have a negative impact on our health through noise levels, depriving family with children and residents in Rochford of disturbed sleep, which would lead to ill health.

The Southend Road that runs along side of the airport is quite a narrow road, and is very busy and congested and you feel at times you are taking your life into your own hands walking along the pavement, so again by increasing the size of the airport there will be more traffic, more noise, more pollution, also we fear our small side roads will become parking zones for travellers by car to the airport, as if there are pay and display machines inside the airport, people travelling by car will use our small roads to park in for however long they will be away, again restricting our access and exit from our homes.

I know my letter will be read and put to one side, as money is more powerful than our quality of life, but I felt that I needed to write to you to express my concerns and to say maybe sometimes you should take a step back and ask yourselves what is progress and who will suffer because of this if it takes away our quality, peace, security and most of all our right to live a happy, healthy life in our homes free from anxiety.

Not making the roads any more congested than they already are. 4.5. point iv makes it sound as if you are going to make it more difficult for current residents to get around. This would be intolerable

Thank you for your letter of the 9th July 2008 regarding your consultation programme. I have no access to the website so I cannot view the four scenarios but instread, I am writing this short letter to you.

My views are as follows:-

I think the railway station is essential and should have been built years ago. I hope it will be for the use of everybody and not just airport passengers.

The idea of a diversionary route for Eastwoodbury Lane is not my choice. I would support the retention of the existing route with an underpass for the extended runway. This option has already been suggested in the local press.

I am in support of the Airport and wish to see it prosper. I hope there will be a demand for the additional services which you aim to provide. My concern is not to change the appearance of the surrounding area anymore than can be helped.

With good wishes

You must "counter" the anti lobby. Looking at the "Leigh Times" there is a noisy campaign starting.

If solid growth can be achieved at the airport and surrounding business areas, the main local public transport need will be for employee travel.

Current services give good links to Rochford, Southend and Shoebury but growth in the potential bus market will allow these services to be improved.

again, the current rail/road infrastructure is already congested. increasing any capacity in the airport would make it a lot worse.

another train station on an already congested rail line would not help at all.

Improved rail links, reduction in road use.

Dear Sir,

Re: London Southend Airport and Environs JAAP Consultation

I am writing in response to the JAAP Issues and Options report currently under consultation and would comment in answer to a number of the questions as follows:

Q4.2 How can the airport best be developed to drive and support the local economy

The airport can and should be allowed to develop to offer affordable scheduled services to allow both local residents to use it to go on their holidays and to draw tourists into Southend to allow them to enjoy the facilities we have and will increasingly be getting as we develop the area in the future. In addition, we feel a fully functional regional airport will in itself attract business to the area which will, in turn add to the regeneration of Southend.

Q4.10 What do you consider to be the transport priorities for the JAAP

The airport area must be effectively integrated into the public transport network to reduce reliance of car use. In addition to support both the airport and the broader success of Southend, roads into the Borough must continue to be significantly improved if the regeneration of the area is to succeed.

Q5.1 What is your preferred scenario for the future of the Southend Airport Area

Scenario 3 is the only scenario to consider a runway extension. This small extension would enable affordable services for local people to go on their holidays and bring people into Southend to allow them to enjoy our seafront and all of the other attractions in the area. In addition the opportunity to grasp the employment potential of the airport and its environs should not be missed.

In response to your request on views on the above subject, I object to this expansion on the following points.

Firstly the infrastructure is inadequate, I know a lot of people who will not live in this area because of the traffic problems as high-lighted only recently with the gas leak at Rayleigh. It seems that on a fairly frequent basis that there are problems on the A127 or the A13 and everything comes to a stanstill. Even without this the traffic is past saturation point and would not make it a popular choice to use this airport (and not miss flights!)

The car parking facilities at this airport are not on par with any other airport and at the end of the day passengers usually want the convenience of their own cars and do not like to use public transport. Which brings us to the use of the new proposed rail link to the airport, which could be made unsustainable or even obsolete. I know from other airports that they rely heavily on car parking, shopping areas etc to make any profits, otherwise the landing fees usually have to be so high the airport loses out to cheaper options.

It has been said about this being for the local population, which I have read in the local news that a lot of the new residents of Southend seem to live on benefits, so not the healthy economy that will provide for a sustained larger airport.

There are the environmental issues such as noise, vibration and pollution, which are becoming paramount to the government and world leaders in general. They cannot be ignored forever. The oil crisis which seems to be growing, demand outstripping supply. The aviation industry is one of the first to be affected by all this. When all this hits home is there going to be a lot of white elephants in the Southeast. There is the concern of shrinking green belt land, it seems in this area it has been built on more than most areas, so the area is already lacking in green belt. There is also concern of more demand on the water supply in the drought ridden area of the Southeast.

The economic arguments do not add up either as the Stop Stansted Expansion group have proved even with a larger airport expansion proposal such as Stansted. They have proved this to government bodies and the business work, but it seems the government are in the pocket of BAA and do not judge this on the facts. Let's hope Rochford Council are more sensible.

The idea that the expansion will help with the Olympic Games, I believe a couple of weeks event that will leave a lot of waste in its wake. This is based on speaking to business people in the London area. So generally I think it is a bad idea to expand this airport, there seems to be a glut of airport in this part of the country anyway and makes this unnecessary.

The airport area must be effectively integrated into the public transport network to reduce reliance of car use. In addition to support both the airport and the broader success of Southend, roads into the Borough must continue to be significantly improved if the regeneration of the area is to succeed.
Improve cycle route provision.
Look into a Light Rail system for the area.

I consider the priorities to be to get people off of the the roads especially the minor roads.
The main roadway A127 should be larger and wider with less x-roads traffic lights etc.,
Introduce a Congestion Charge and Pollution free zones by introducing charging on cc of car entering the zones.

JAAP should ensure that European pollution standards can be achieved by any of the proposed plans on hard PROVEN facts not imaginary scenarios about aircraft not yet built as has been shown by Heathrow's 4th terminal development plans.

The major priority should be improvement to the transport infrastructure and these facilitate should include the future development of a public transport interchange, including "Park and Ride" within the JAAP area. The development of the railway station at the airport should contribute to improved accessibility by train for the air passengers and provide an additional railway station for the local commuters. The expansion of businesses in and around the airport will increase local employment and the increased movement of the workers should be managed through improved public transport, cycling facilities and pedestrian access from the adjoining residential areas. The JAAP should be supported by a Service Access Strategy.