Catalogue description Roskill Commission on the Third London Airport

CS LA/1 Stage One (original submissions to the Commission)

CS LA/2 Stage Two (evidence given at local hearings)

CS LA/2/F Foulness Site

CS LA/2/N Nuthampstead Site

CS LA/2/T Thurleigh Site

CS LA/2/W Wing Site

CS LA/3 Stage Three (written submissions by parties)

CS LA/4 Stage Four (minutes of meetings between the Commission and parties to discuss aspects of the Commission Research Team's published work and to lay the ground work for Stage Five).

CS LA/5 Stage Five (final hearings of all parties)

CS LA/5/A General Matters

CS LA/5/B Statements of Evidence - First Tier Local Authorities

CS LA/5/B1 Beds, Bucks, Cambs, Herts, Hunts, Essex & Northants CCs

CS LA/5/B2 Beds, Cambs, Essex, Herts, Hunts & Northants CCs

CS LA/5/B3 Beds, Bucks, Herts & Northants CCs

CS LA/5/B4 Beds, Bucks, Northants & Oxon CCs

CS LA/5/B5 Cambs, Essex & Herts CCs

CS LA/5/B6 Bucks CC

CS LA/5/B7 Bucks & Oxon CCs

CS LA/5/B8 Herts CC

CS LA/5/B9 Kent CC

CS LA/5/B10 Other Local Authorities - Surrey CC, West Sussex CC, GLC, Luton County Borough and Southend-on-Sea County Borough

CS LA/5/C Statements of Evidence - Other Authorities with Statutory Responsibilities

CS LA/5/C1 British Airports Authority

CS LA/5/C2 Other Transport Authorities (BEA, BOAC, BRB, Port of London Authority)

CS LA/5/C3 Development Corporations (MKDC and Stevenage DC)

CS LA/5/D Statements 0f Evidence - Resistance Associations & Similar Groups

CS LA/5/D1 BARA

CS LA/5/D2 ACAFA

CS LA/5/D3 NPA

CS LA/5/D4 WARA

CS LA/5/D5 The Sheppey Group

CS LA/5/D6 TECDA

CS LA/5/D7 Burnham, River Crouch & Seaward Approaches Protection Association

CS LA/5/E Statements of Evidence - Other Bodies

CS LA/5/E1 TEDCO

CS LA/5/E2 Thames Aeroport Group Ltd.

CS LA/5/E3 Planning & Other Professional Bodies (SERPLAN, TCPA and RIBA)

CS LA/5/E4 Aviation Groups (BALPA, British Gliding Ass., London Gliding Club, British Light Aviation Centre)

CS LA/5/E5 Agricultural & Landowning Bodies (CLA and NFU)

CS LA/5/E6 Environmental & Heritage Bodies (CPRE and NT)

CS LA/5/E7 Bodies Concerned with Noise Pollution (BACAN, KACAN and Noise Abatement Society)

CS LA/5/E8 Ornithological Bodies (RSPB and Wildfowl Trust)

CS LA/5/E9 Other Organisations (Cambridge University)

CS LA/5/F Local Hearings

CS LA/5/G Written Representations

CS LA/5/H Transcripts of Proceedings

CS LA/6 Miscellaneous Correspondence

CS LA/7 Miscellaneous Publications

CS LA/7/A HMSO Papers & Proceedings of the Commission

CS LA/7/B Further Research Team material

CS LA/7/C Other Publications

GLOSSARY

ACAFA Action Committee Against Foulness Airport

BAA British Airports Authority

BACAN British association for the Control of Aircraft Noise

BALPA British Airline Pilots' Association

BARA Bedfordshire Airport Resistance Association

BCC Bedfordshire County Council

BEA British European Airways

BOAC British Overseas Airways Corporation

BRB British Railways Board

CC County Council

CLA Country Landowners' Association

CPRE Council for the Protection of Rural England

GANE Gatwick Anti Noise Executive

GLC Greater London Council

KACAN Kew Association for Control of Aircraft Noise

LLUDC Leighton Linslade Urban District Council

MKDC Milton Keynes Development Corporation

NFU National Farmers' Union

NPA Nuthampstead Preservation Association

NPS Nuthampstead Preservation Society

PC Parish Council

RDC Rural District Council

RSPB Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

SERPLAN South East Regional Planning Association

STOL Short Take-Off and Landing (aircraft)

TCPA Town & Country Planning Association

TECDA Thurleigh Emergency Committee for Democratic Action

TEDCO Thames Estuary Development Corporation

TLA Third London Airport

TUC Trades Union Conference

UDC Urban District Council

WARA Wing Airport Resistance Association

WI Women's Institute

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.