Following the decision by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to
issue an Article 14 direction in respect of the Southend Airport expansion plan, the forthcoming
meeting of the Joint Area Action Plan for the airport and its environs on February 2 has been
postponed.

Rochford District Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council have issued the following joint
statement in respect of the postponement.

Councillor Keith Hudson, Rochford District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning and
Transportation, said the JAAP meeting postponement had been “necessary” following the Article
14 direction.

He said: “This action has proven to be necessary following the Article 14 direction by the
Secretary of State and awaits his decision on whether there should be a public inquiry or that
Southend Council can proceed to issue their decision to approve the runway extension
application.

“It is extremely important we get an early decision from the Secretary of State, as to my mind it
would be a crying shame to miss this golden opportunity to kick start the local economy, in order
to capitalise on the potential provided by the Olympics.

“The Joint Area Action Plan is the vehicle by which it is hoped that Southend and Rochford
Councils will be able to facilitate the creation of 7,300 additional jobs for the area.

“It is hoped that any delay will be kept to a minimum, especially in light of the many
redundancies recently announced by some of our local companies.”

John Lamb, Deputy Leader of Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, said: “The review of the
Airport planning application by the Secretary of State has clear implications for the Joint Area
Action Plan.

“If the Secretary of State were to call in the application and make it the subject of a Public
Inquiry the implications for other developments proposed by the JAAP would be serious.”