Tuesday, 22 July 2008
The decision as to whether Stansted will get a second runway is to be made by the Government after a public inquiry. Communities and Local Government (CLG) Secretary Hazel Blears has apparently "called in" airport owner BAA's planning application, stating that the public inquiry would be held "in due course".
The inquiry should begin in spring 2009 and is expected to take more than a year before a decision can be reached to allow expansion – a move which could see 68 million passengers using the airport per year.
Should the final decision go in favour of a new runway, Stansted will become the home of the first new runway in the south-east for half a century. The site would also create 13,000 new jobs and £9 billion for the economy.
