Villagers commence Stansted legal battle

Villagers near Stansted Airport are today due to begin a legal challenge against a planned expansion, claiming that proposed compensation schemes are “unfair and inadequate”. The Guardian reports that in the village of Takeley, a compensation scheme designed by the airport’s operator BAA will pay out to just 500 households, whereas some 12,000 will could be blighted by aircraft noise if a second runway is built. The newspaper reports that the parish council is to lodge a formal high court application for a judicial review – and that other nearby communities are likely to do the same thing. BAA has reportedly offered to refund the value lost by houses within a certain radius of the airport – but it is basing its decision on households that will experience noise greater that 66 decibels. The World Health Organisation reportedly designates 50 decibels as a level that causes stress. A BAA spokesman is quoted as saying that the company had offered a compensation scheme as early as possible, adding that it was “right at the top end of anything ever offered in any UK planning development”. Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd