Sir Alan Haselhurst MP, Stansted Airport is a gateway to international trading centres for east of England businesses and a major business in its own right providing many trading opportunities for local firms. Economic growth is vital to maintaining the UK as a premier world financial centre and to the competitiveness of the east of England with 80 per cent of the top 500 companies having offices located in the airport’s catchment area. Is Stansted Airport and its expansion critical to the region’s economic development?
Asked by MTyrrell on Oct 30 2007 10:58:16 PM and supported by 22 members
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Well part of that question is answered by what I’ve just said. I don’t believe that business is the principle beneficiary of Stansted. Obviously Stansted is an economic driver because it has created 10,000 or more jobs. I don’t deny that and we are in the fortunate position that we don’t have unemployment in my constituency nor in the immediate area around. When Stansted has passed a certain level of activity, people are having to be brought in from further and further a field adding to burden of inadequate road and rail network and causing more people to say well now I’m working here can I buy somewhere to live nearer and these are creating pressures which are not being relieved by investment in the local infrastructure. This is a real problem. But yes the economic growth to which the airport has contributed, as some of the service industries, such as hotels and so on, all of that fine its created work for local people but the more it expands now its creating work for non-local people and I am not sure that this is on balance serving the interests of the country as a whole or the East of England in particular.