 Deborah Bishop and her husband are staying put to the bitter end |
People whose homes would be demolished to make way for a new runway at Stansted Airport are being officially invited to sell-up. The airport's owner, British Airports Authority (BAA), is offering home-owners a compensation package.
BAA says around one in five people who qualify for the offer have expressed interest in the package.
The scheme allows householders a pre-second runway consultation price, index-linked to the current prices.
More than 100 homes, including all of the hamlet of Bambers Green, come within the boundary of the land needed to extend the airport's facilities by 2011 or 2012.
While some home-owners have agreed to move, many others have vowed to stay put, come what may.
Opponents of expansion have dismissed the deal from BAA as "low-level bribery" and "a pathetic sop".
One couple who say they are staying put to the bitter end are Deborah and Tim Bishop, whose garden is destined to become an runway access road.
"We will stick it out for as long as we possibly can - until the bailiffs are at the door. Unless it is totally inevitable, we are staying," Mrs Bishop said.
BAA project director Alistair McDermid said the 21 home-owners, about one in five, who had accepted the offer to sell up and move on immediately were a little more than they had expected.
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