Stansted it is!

The Government has effectively approved a massive expansion of the aviation industry in Britain, with the go-ahead for two major new runways in the south east of the country. The transport secretary Alistair Darling yesterday announced that a second runway will be built at Stansted by 2012, with another runway at Heathrow by 2015 to 2020 as long as strict environmental measures can be met. If they cannot, development would be moved to Gatwick and carried out after 2019. As predicted by many commentators, the proposals to build a completely new facility on the Thames estuary at Cliffe, Kent, were rejected. Many of today’s newspapers give extensive coverage to the fact that the Stansted expansion will mean the loss of four historic villages and hundreds of listed buildings. The Stop Stansted Expansion group, which famously includes television chef Jamie Oliver among its numbers, has vowed to run a “vigorous and relentless” campaign to stop the expansion. Among the other main points in the Government’s White Paper are plans for new runways at Bristol, Birmingham, Newcastle and Edinburgh, with other developments, including improvements to terminal buildings, at Bristol, Bournemouth, Manchester, Liverpool and Belfast. Cardiff will remain Wales’ main airport.