Stansted Airport – Much Hadham Parish Council Objection

Stansted Airport – Much Hadham Parish Council objects to latest expansion plans

As many readers will recall as recently as 2021, following a lengthy Public Enquiry, Stansted Airport was granted permission to increase maximum annual passenger numbers by almost a quarter, from 35m to 43m. Permission was granted despite the objections of many interested parties, including Much Hadham Parish Council, who were concerned about the detrimental  effect that the expansion would have on local infrastructure, the increase in aircraft noise, the effect on air quality and the environmental effect of the emission of greenhouse gasses. Now, only four years later, the owners of Stansted Airport have applied to Uttlesford District Council to further increase the Airport’s permitted maximum annual passenger throughout from 43m to 51m, with the construction of two new taxiway links to the existing runway and proposed engineering changes to Junction 8 of the M11.

The magnitude of the proposed increase is dramatic. It would require an increase of approximately 40% in the current actual annual passenger throughput (around 30m) to bring throughput up to even the current permitted maximum of 43m.  The proposed increased to 51m would be in the region of 75% above current levels.

If granted, the application would make Stansted the second biggest airport in the UK and there are no grounds to believe that the owner’s expansion plans will stop there. If the application was to be approved it would be unsurprising if the increase in passenger numbers was used as a platform to justify a future application to secure the Airport’s wish to build a second runway, with potentially radical further expansion to follow.

The application has been made on the basis that there would be no increase in the currently permitted maximum annual number of flights from Stansted (274,000) and it is suggested that the increase would be achieved through the introduction of larger aircraft. The airport claims that the expansion in passenger capacity would bring “over 4,500 good local jobs” and “better connections to the world”.

Much Hadham Parish Council considers that the negative effects of the increase in passenger numbers would far outweigh any benefits and has filed a detailed objection to the application which can be found on the Uttlesford District Council planning website under planning application UTT/25/1542/FUL, and by following this link: Much Hadham Parish Council Objection in Full