Pain in the R's
It's the second segment climb that we're talking about here. That is the portion of the climb path from gear retraction to 400ft (although under JAR this definition may be slightly different) and during this phase a climb gradient of 2.4% must be maintainable with one engine inoperative. The problem on 24 is that this climb gradient at high TOWs does not provide terrain clearance (the trees), thus an RTOW has to be applied which is the max weight which ensures terrain clearance. Runway 06 does not have significant obstacles in the climb path so the problem does not arise. TODA and TORA do not come into the equation in this situation.
As far as the 15degree slew is concerned I don't know why it was abandoned as a proposal; whether it was CAA misgivings or other technical difficulties or simply thought unnecessary at the time. It certainly looks as if it needs to be revisited in light of recent events.
Southend Thud
Thanks for providing a factual report on Friday's snow situation. It's always good to get the facts and put the previous speculation into perspective.