The Case Against Bedlam The forthcoming public inquiry into the
pro- posal to build London's third airport at Stansted, in Essex, promises to be a turbulent affair. High feelings are naturally aroused when any group of communities suddenly find their way of life in peril. In this case the local people have also had the time to prepare a formidable case against the proposal, and the energy and re- sources „to take advantage of it. They have already collected some £20,000 for the fight. (That their target is £25,000 is incidentally a de- pressing indication of the high cost to the citizen of making his voice heard against that of White- hall.) Towns and villages all over the affected area have not only helped to raise money to brief counsel and prepare the case, but have also engaged in a lively local propaganda campaign. Driving through this extremely pleasant part of Essex nowadays one is quickly made aware that some sort of local war is on. Everywhere cars bear stickers saying 'NO' to the airport, and houses and gardens display innumerable posters giving the same message. To add to the sense of battle there is even a local faction which wants the airport (on the ground that it will bring jobs to the area) and they are running their own poster campaign.
Those directing the anti-airport protest have not been so silly as to let themselves appear in an obscurantist or olde-worlde light. The centre of their case is that it is planners' madness to dump another huge airport on the fringe of London, with consequent noise and misery for millions, and that the only way out of this prob- lem is to create a great national airport on the coast where the jets can approach and take off over the sea instead of over houses. By taking this line the objectors have enlarged the issue beyond the local scale. After all, filed away in Whitehall is the recommendation that the ques- tion of a fourth London airport should be opened up in about three years' time. Who's next for bedlam?
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