Liberal Democrats have further highlighted their concerns over the Luton Expansion plans and called for the county to speak out against the proposals.

Councillor Nick Hollinghurst (Tring and the Villages) said, “We raised real concerns about how this will be monitored going forward as it is already an issue for residents.  In particular there seemed to be a lack of clarity as to what would actually count towards ‘night flights’ and the changes being proposed as to the times governed by this.  For example do freight and empty flights to position aircraft count, and what is the impact of private flights which are more irregular.”

Councillor Steve Drury (Croxley), said:  “Infrastructure transport links are already at breaking point and nothing we’ve seen allays our concerns on this.  We know that bus links are under threat and that the blithe assumption that commercial companies will increase their capacity is just simply unrealistic.  Try getting to Heathrow airport for an early morning flight or after a late landing- the hourly bus has stopped and gone home.  Even without an incident on the M1, we already see people peeling off and travelling through cities like St Albans via the A5 heading South.”

Concerns were also raised about the realistic economic benefits locally as most travellers would be heading towards London, or outbound, and security is also not covered sufficiently, especially when the Police Fire-Arms unit is shared between Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire which cover the airport.

Councillor Drury concluded, “There are too many assumptions, too many missing pieces with these proposals and, whilst this may be a consultation period, the county needs to object strongly now, not waiting until later, and ensure that, where possible we ask the relevant Secretaries of State to intervene, because the impact on our residents if the County fails to act will potentially last for generations.  Relying on the planning process, where a condition imposed now could be amended later, just simply isn’t enough.”