Reference
CS/LA/Introduction
Title
The Roskill Commission was set up to investigate the possibility of building a third airport to serve London (after Heathrow and Gatwick). The Inquiry was held over five stages between 1968 and 1970. These stages are outlined below.
Stage One
The preliminary stage before the shortlisted sites were announced.
Stage Two
The Commission published information about the four shortlisted sites which were:
Foulness (Essex);
Nuthampstead (Herts);
Thurleigh (Beds);
Wing (Bucks), also known as Cublington.
At Stage Two, four hearings were held, one in the vicinity of each site and relating only to that site, at which evidence from interested parties was heard.
Stage Three
A Research Team appointed by the Commission carried our investigations in order to produce a report. Technical submissions from interested parties were received and studied.
Stage Four
A series of meetings was held at which the Commission, the Research Team and representatives of those parties who had been granted leave to appear at Stage Five discussed aspects of the Research Team's report.
Stage Five
74 days of hearings took place at the Piccadilly Hotel in London during which all interested parties stated their case and underwent cross-examination from counsel employed by other parties. The hearings were broken down into seven types of evidence as follows:
Subject A: Principles and Methods of Valuation in the Cost/Benefit Analysis;
Subject B: the Timing of the Need for the Airport;
Subject C: Air Matters (i.e. air traffic control, the effect on other airports and on defence installations and air safety).
Subject D: Site Matters (airport design, location, construction & layout and meteorology
Subject E: Surface Transport
Subject F: Environment & Planning, including Noise and Urbanisation
Subject G: Any Other Relevant Matters (including financial implications).
Each subject was heard individually with defence matters being held at separate sessions "in camera". The submissions of evidence and cross-examination of witnesses was followed by closing speeches.
At the end of the process the Commission recommended, on a majority decision, that the Third London Airport, together with its surrounding "Airport City" should be sited at Wing. One member of the Commission dissented, believing that Foulness was the best option.
In the event the Wing option was discarded and the government of the day eventually decided to build the new airport at Maplin Sands (Essex), not far from the original Foulness site. However, in July 1974, the Maplin project was abandoned. The government then considered other options, including making Luton into London's third airport. By December 1979 the then government considered the expansion of Stansted airport to be the best solution.
This archive has been compiled from the files created by Bedfordshire County Council's County Secretary's Department. They naturally favour the two sites that would effect the county most (Thurleigh and Wing), though a considerable amount of evidence concerning the Nuthampstead and Foulness sites as well as general information concerning the issue as a whole was compiled. The County Record Office's normal practice (as outlined in its Collecting Policy) is to collect material mainly of relevance to Bedfordshire. However, given the interlinked nature of the records of the Commission and the fact that the Third London Airport was an important national issue of which records might well not survive elsewhere, it was decided to keep the archive intact, retaining information on the Bucks, Herts and Essex sites and fights as well as those concerning Thurleigh. This enables the researcher to build up a picture of the work of the Commission and the co-ordinated campaign against the various sites. It also serves to highlight differences of approach and/or emphasis between Bedfordshire County Council and BARA compared with other local authorities and pressure groups.
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