Better Transport

22 January: Southend-on-Sea has just approved expansion at Southend Airport. But the Government knows it can't expand regional airports and Heathrow, as our investigation last year revealed.

Eddie Stobart's freight company – linked to road haulage but now also running trains – is pushing plans to increase passenger numbers from around 50,000 to 2 million by 2019. But a few months ago the Committee on Climate Change ruled that the Air Transport White Paper would breach those targets, and that expansion plans needed to be scaled back substantially. 

We think any expansion is optimistic, because, as we told the Times last year, the Government's plans to expand Heathrow and Stansted means that no other airport can expand without breaching their targets. But the lack of any coherent policy on aviation means smaller airports are rushing their expansion plans through without considering the impact on the climate (or local people).

Luckily the Communities Secretary has asked to see the expansion proposal, which means that there could be a public inquiry. But we still have no idea how the Government plans to meet its targets. Targets are only effective if they are enforced, and airports and councils are simply ignoring the Government's aviation limits.