Airtrack public enquiry delayed for the second time

Last year the enquiry was pushed back from January this year to April, so the news of a possible eight month delay has led to campaigners calling for the application to be withdrawn.

At a meeting of the Association of the Preservation of Staines Moor on Monday (1), residents decided they will write to the Department of Transport to call for the withdrawal.

Earl Gray, chairman of the association, said: "This is really unacceptable. This work should have been completed before the application was put in. You do not buy a Hornby model train without purchasing the tracks.

"It now means that residents and campaigners who are concerned about being affected have to endure more frustration while they wait."

The application for the rail line was submitted by BAA to the Department of Transport in the summer of last year, and previously, campaigners in Staines and Stanwell were dismayed when they heard BAA plan to build over common land in Staines Moor.

People are also still worried about the possibility of having to remove 50,000 square metres of waste in a landfill in nearby Hithermoor, which residents fear may endanger Staines Moor and affect health.

Andrew McLuskey, of Diamedes Avenue, Stanwell, said: "I am very angry over the second delay, because it just means that we will have to wait even longer to hear what is going to happen.

"Just because BAA didn't do their homework properly to start with is no reason for the rest of us to be left to stew."

At a council meeting due to be held on Thursday February 4 Surrey and Spelthorne councillors were to state that not enough research has been carried out over the Hithermoor landfill site, and that BAA need to come up mitigation measures.

A spokesman for BAA said research into timetabling and barrier down time will not be completed until spring this year, so the public enquiry will probably be deferred until the Autumn.