Maximize Manchester before developing Stansted, says MP
THE MP for the constituency that includes Stansted Airport has called for more air traffic to pass through Manchester.
Sir Alan Haselhurst, MP for Uttlesford and a Manchester MP in the early 1970s, believes more should be made of the airport’s two runways before Stansted’s capacity is extended.
Manchester Airports Group acquired Stansted from BAA for £1.5bn earlier this year and has since advocated building a second runway at Stansted or developing it as a four-runway hub. Manchester handled around 19.7 million passengers last year while Stansted had 17.5 million.
Speaking in a House of Commons debate on aviation strategy at the end of last month, Sir Alan said: “I must declare an interest because Stansted Airport is in my constituency. However, the views that I hold on airports policy were formed when I had the honour to be the Member for Middleton and Prestwich in Greater Manchester.
“I took the view then, in the wake of the study by the Roskill commission, the last great body to study airports policy, that none of the inland sites, whether Cublington, Nuthampstead, Stansted, Willingale or any other, should be developed, and that if we were to have a proper airport system for London, it should be offshore.
“My view was that it would be a mistake to urbanise a large part of the countryside in any of the home counties. I never dreamed that, due to the sad early death of Sir Peter Kirk, a vacancy would occur in the Saffron Walden constituency, which I was chosen to fill. I am therefore not simply saying ‘not in my back yard’ — I have tried to have a wider perspective on the matter.
“I was close to Manchester for a time, and I saw the potential for the development of Manchester Airport. It has two runways, so why can that potential not be seen? Why not promote that as at least one other gateway into the country? Most air traffic has to do with leisure, and from Manchester not only can the business community be served in that part of the country—going both west to Liverpool and east to Leeds — but there is access to north Wales, the Derbyshire peak district, the Yorkshire dales, Yorkshire moors, the lake district and so on.
“We ought to encourage those who visit this country to see parts of it other than just London and the home counties. That would take some of the pressure off London, without, of course, excusing the need for a proper hub.”
He added: “The whole country needs to get some benefit from the people whom we encourage to travel to our country for business or pleasure. We need imagination—that is what I appeal for—and a solution that is worthy of our main city and our country as a whole.”
