Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) is an advocacy group

Advocacy group

Advocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...

 established in 2002 as a working group of the North West Essex and East Herts Preservation Association, in response to the Government's consultation on expanding UK airports and, particularly, expansion plans for Stansted Airport subsequently defined in the Air Transport White Paper

White paper

A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...

in December 2003. Its campaign director is Carol Barbone.

The group has 7,500 Members and Registered Online Supporters including around 150 special interest and environmental organisations, parish and town councils and other communities threatened by airport expansion.

Objectives

The group's stated objective is "To contain the development of Stansted Airport within tight limits that are truly sustainable and, in this way, to protect the quality of life of residents over wide areas of Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, to preserve our heritage and to protect the natural environment."

BAA formally withdrew its planning application for a second Stansted runway on 24 May 2010. This followed confirmation by the UK's new Coalition Government that no new runways would be permitted in South East England.