Takeley Parish Council's response to BAA's revised Home Owner Support Scheme
OPEN LETTER TO BAA
7 October 2004
Mr.Terry Morgan
Managing Director
BAA Stansted
Dear Mr.Morgan
BAA - Home Owners Support Scheme
It is difficult to describe the depth of disappointment that the ‘Home Owners Support Scheme’ has generated in the Takeley community. Disappointment has moved to anger and resentment as the true implications of the scheme sink into the minds of the residents of this blighted community.
BAA could not have driven a firmer wedge through the Takeley community if they had tried and many firmly believe this was the intended strategy all along. Takeley is now clearly divided into a community who may, or may not be, supported by BAA's ‘Home Owners Support Scheme’. For many there will be no way out until the vague hope of compensation through the Land Compensation Act, some eight to ten years away.
BAA is in contravention of Article 8 of the ‘European Charter for Human Rights’ which states that ‘everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence’. Takeley Parish Council are seeking legal advice.
The scheme treats Takeley unfairly. There is no moral basis for a decision that effectively splits the population of Takeley into ‘haves & have nots’, while fully safeguarding and supporting the Bambers Green community, who are no closer to the 66 leq contour line.
What is the reasoning for the exceptional consideration given to the Bambers Green community, and why has this level of support not been shared with the Smiths Green, Brewers End & Takeley Street communities ?
Takeley Parish Council dispute the criteria for choosing the 66 leq as the basis of the ‘HOSS’ to decide who is or who is not blighted and needs support. It has seen no clear evidence to support the claim that the Department for Transport have fully endorsed this scheme. We ask again how rail travel can be compared to air travel as a basis for support schemes of this magnitude.
Takeley is now a divided community. It should have, and deserves to have had, fair and equal support and treatment from BAA for all its residents. The Takeley community should be seen as a whole, and not as a group of disparate neighbourhoods to be played off against one another.
BAA have lost a wonderful opportunity to set the standard and precedent for support for communities like Takeley, who now face unparalleled levels of emotional, financial, environmental & cultural devastation in the path of this proposed vast national project.
Residents close to the 66 leq contour line are still unable to identify clearly which property is inside and which is outside the line, and advice from BAA's ‘Help Line’ has been vague to say the least. Takeley Parish Council demand that, at the very least and out of basic professional courtesy, BAA informs all individual households if they qualify or not for the ‘HOSS’.
BAA tenants in Mole Hill Green, many of whom have been exemplary stewards of BAA property for up to 20 years, will receive no support. This is also morally wrong and action should be taken to support them. For a company that has continually stressed that it wishes to be a good neighbour and a positive influence in the local community, this behaviour is reprehensible.
Takeley Parish Council now urge BAA to reconsider the ‘Home Owners Support Scheme’ and support the Takeley community as a whole.
Related links:
"Takeley Parish Council Renews Claim for Judicial Review of BAA's HOSS Compensation Scheme" - press release issued 14 March 2005 by Takeley Parish Council
"HOSS legal challenge thrown out by judge" - Dunmow Observer 10 March 2005
"BAA Slur Condemned by Takeley Parish Council" - press release issued 25 January 2005 by Takeley Parish Council
"BAA the Target of Legal Action Over Expansion Blight" - press release issued 2 January 2005 by Takeley Parish Council
"Legal Action Initiated Over Stansted Expansion Blight" - press release issued 16 November 2004 by Takeley Parish Council
"BAA DISREGARDS COMPENSATION OBLIGATIONS" - press release issued 21 September 2004 by SSE
"New initiative launched at Stansted" - press release issued 21 September 2004 by BAA
BAA's "Home Owner Support Scheme" - revised September 2004 (Acrobat ® format, 1.2 MB)
Response to BAA's original consultation - issued 6 May 2004 by Takeley Parish Council
