London Southend Airport and Environs Joint Area Action Plan Preferred Options

Joint Area Action Plan for Southend Airport (JAAP)

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Further to your invitation to consult on your preferred options proposals relating to Southend Airport, the Haven Gateway Partnership would like make the following submission.

1.2 The Haven Gateway Partnership is a grouping of private and public sector partners, including Essex and Suffolk County Councils, Colchester and Ipswich Borough Council, Tendring District Councils and parts of Suffolk Coastal, Babergh and Mid-Suffolk District Councils. The private sector membership includes the Chambers of Commerce, BT, Hutchison Ports and ABP Ipswich, as well as a number of smaller businesses. The Skills sector is represented by the University of Essex through its Vice-Chancellor.

1.3 The Partnership originated in the economic geography around the major ports complexes in Felixstowe, Harwich, Ipswich, Hythe and Mistley, the largest and nationally most significant maritime ports cluster in the UK. We feel therefore qualified to comments on similar gateway proposals outside our direct area of work.

1.4 The Haven Gateway Partnership supports the preferred options outlined in the JAAP for Southend Airport.

2. COMMENTS

2.1 The Regional Economic Strategy and the Future of Air Transport White Paper provide evidence that sea and airports are significant generators of direct employment opportunities and are also a catalyst for supply chain and other business to locate in the vicinity.

2.2 Similar influence has been demonstrated for Foreign Direct Investment and anecdotally there are several instances where overseas businesses have chosen to locate within about 10-25 miles of major airports, particularly if the dispatch of their products is time-sensitive.

2.3 It is therefore our view that enhanced airport facilities will be a key driver for the economic regeneration of Southend and Rochford, providing employment opportunities targeted at a range of skills, including some high-level skill sets. We consider that the employment targets of 5,450 jobs to 2021 are achievable and may indeed be conservative.

2.4 The development time-line allows for delivery of the enhanced facilities and runway extension before 2012, the year of the London Olympics, and it is our view that Southend Airport will benefit considerably from traffic generated by this sporting event, as the only airport, apart from Stansted, with direct access to the Olympic site. The airport development should therefore also be seen in the context of the legacy from the Olympic Games.

2.5 The additional runway project at Stansted is not scheduled for delivery in time for the Olympics and there must be some doubt whether BAA will persevere with the planning application and the considerable costs attached following the decision of the competition authorities to require the company to divest itself of the airport. Southend Airport's growth is therefore important not only for the economies of Rochford and Southend, but for the wider economy of South Essex and East London.

2.6 It is of course recognised that even given the extension, Southend Airport will remain a niche airport and will not be able to handle a larger aircraft types; it will, however, be able to accommodate a wider range of types than London City Airport, which can only take short take-off and landing aircraft.

2.7 London City Airport with a runway of 1,509m currently handles in excess of 3 million passengers pa and we feel that the passenger estimates indicated in the JAAP are achievable for Southend Airport.

2.8 The proposals of the JAAP also envisage the up-grading of some of the existing commercial and industrial premises in the vicinity of the airport, more specifically the Aviation Way Industrial Estate. It is in our view essential to these sites be regenerated in order to achieve a quality work environment attractive to businesses considering locating in Southend/Rochford.

2.9 The location of passenger handling facilities closer to the Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street railway line and the provision of a new railway station will add considerably to the appeal of Southend Airport for passengers and will offer a real alternative mode of transport to the car. The station with its ancillary car-parking facilities will also be an amenity for the enjoyment of local residents, including workers commuting by rail to London.

2.10 The development of a new quality hotel is also welcomed; Essex and the East of England Region generally have a lack of quality hotel accommodation of sufficient size, capable of hosting larger groups and conferences. The success of the Radisson SAS Hotel at Stansted is an example of an airport attracting a quality hospitality offer.

2.11 The new owner, Stobart Group, is a specialist multi-modal logistics business which already operates a regional airport in Carlisle, Cumbria. We believe that they have the expertise and resources to deliver the plans.

2.12 The alternative to the preferred options outlined by JAAP should also be considered. In the absence of the proposed developments, the airport will continue its decline and fail to generate new jobs; indeed there must be some doubt whether the airport-related activities will not consider relocating in the medium-term. It would be difficult to justify the purpose of a substantial asset like Southend Airport without the economic benefits which are to flow under the preferred options of the JAAP.



3. CONCLUSION

3.1 We fully support the preferred options outlined in the JAAP as the key to unlocking the economic potential of the airport and to generating some 10% of the employment targets set for the Thames Gateway South Essex in the Regional Economic Strategy and the East of England Plan.