Expansion plans designed to turn Southend Airport into the gateway to Europe for the millennium will not be made public for another two months.

Plans for a new terminal building, visitor centre and railway station, which airport bosses vowed would be finished before 2000, have still not been discussed by the consultative committee.

Planning permission was granted in January 1998 and committee members - who represent the public - were meant to discuss the blueprint next Wednesday.

But now airport chairman Andrew Walters, has postponed both the document launch and the committee meeting itself until March 22.

The decision has raised concerns among committee members who have already questioned whether the body is of any use.

But airport director Roger Campbell said the document was not finished and that it would be wrong to put it before members until it was.

He added: "As far as we are concerned we are here to run an airport and it will stay as an airport."

In December, two Rochford district councillors and a Leigh residents representative walked out of the committee over a dispute with Mr Walters who wanted to choose his own chairman.

Since then councillors Heather Glynn and Roy Pearson have withdrawn their resignations but former Leigh town councillor Mike King has not.

In a letter to members, circulated with minutes from the December 15 meeting, Mr Walters said: "I am sorry to say that, despite these recent meetings (with officials), it is still not possible to issue the strategy until negotiations with the Industry Regulator have been completed."

Another member, Leigh Town councillor Jeremy Pilgrim, said on Thursday he felt there was a danger the committee would become obsolete. The body itself has no decision-making powers but should be a consultative link with the local community.

He said: "It concerns me that we are having a chairman selected by the company chairman, that reports are only produced when they feel like it and that there has been little or no discussion into the future of the airport.

"We have had little debate because we don't know what is going to happen and now the plans have been delayed to March. That is my major concern.

"I feel the committee could end up as an aid to further the progress of the operation of the airport, rather than as a consultative body, if we're not careful."

Southend Airport owners Regional Airports Limited has put plans before Bromley Council to turn its other airport, Biggin Hill in Kent, into London's fourth airport in a £15 million expansion.

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