Southend Council yesterday gave planning consent for the Ramada airport hotel.
Hopefully(!) this should now go ahead as it should be a money-spinner for the airport given the current lack of good hotels in the Southend area.
Next step is to sort out the planning consent for the rail station, which as it stands is linked to the building of the new terminal. Rochford District Council is expecting to receive a planning application shortly from SEN to decouple the two things allowing the station to be built and to open before the new terminal.