STANSTED: Lead campaigner against airport expansion dies
4:48pm Thursday 6th November 2008 in Where I Live
Norman Mead
TRIBUTES have been paid to a long-standing member of the community who passed away earlier this week.
Norman Mead MBE, deputy chairman of Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) passed away on Sunday 2 November, after suffering an aneurism the day before.
The 81-year-old was a passionate campaigner against the proposed second runway at Stansted as well as the general secretary of the North West Essex and East Herts Preservation Association (NWEEHPA), a post which he held from 1986 to the present day.
Mr Mead was featured in 9 October edition of the Epping Forest Guardian, warning of the dangers of living under a flight path.
Chairman of SSE Peter Sanders described Mr mead as “totally dedicated”
He said: “At a time when increasing years would have given him the excuse to take life more easily he remained fully active and involved. Even on the Monday before he died he attended a meeting of our Executive Committee.”
He added: “All of us have benefited from Norman's long experience and expertise. He responded to every call for help and advice. But more than that - he was unfailingly kind and courteous. Even in the fiercest arguments he was calm and unruffled, never failing to put his case clearly and firmly, but always respectful of those who took a different view. And he won their respect too. It was symbolic of the esteem in which he was generally held that in 2005 he was awarded the MBE.”
“Norman was a giant in more ways than one, and if we say that SSE now stands on the shoulders of giants it is Norman that we most have in mind. We shall miss his wisdom and advice, but we shall be all the more determined to carry our campaign to the successful conclusion that he would have wanted and for which he had worked for so many years.”
Mr Mead leaves behind his wife Beryl.
Funeral details will be released at a later date.
