Local Reaction To Third Runway Decision
Campaigners vow to continue to fight expansion and environmental destruction
Hounslow Council has vowed to continue its fight against Heathrow expansion and environmental destruction following the Government’s decision to approve plans for a third runway.
Legal action against the Government is a real possibility following the decision to push ahead with expansion at Heathrow and the further damage to people’s lives it will now bring.
Responding to the announcement, Cllr Barbara Reid, the council’s lead member for aviation said, "This is a deeply undemocratic, unpopular and decision that flies in face of common sense.
“The Government is proving that the myriad of statements and policies issued claiming concern for the environment are just fig leaves designed to conceal total disinterest in the lives of hundreds of thousands of ordinary people and the even higher pollution and noise they will be forced to suffer.
“They have left us with no option but to consider taking legal action on behalf of our residents.
"Up to date research show that 96 per cent of people in Hounslow oppose the Government’s plans because of the joint miseries of even more noise and pollution they are imposing on our residents.
"Our resolve to stop expansion is stronger than ever; we will do everything in our power to ensure that the Government's plans for Heathrow never get off the ground."
On Government claims that the airport will have to meet strict environmental guidelines Cllr Reid said, “Every one knows that Government promises about Heathrow only expanding if strict limits on noise and air pollution are met are not worth the paper they are written on. The truth of the matter is that it is not possible to expand Heathrow in an environmentally responsible way, because the airport is already breaking the rules on noise and pollution."
“Heathrow’s neighbours are already suffering the impact of this environmental rule breaking on a daily basis.
“They experience it in their homes, in their streets and in their children’s schools and playgrounds.
“If the Government is serious about making Heathrow operate within strict environmental limit then it needs to abandon its expansion plans and focus its efforts on making the airport stick by its own rules.
The Government decision came as Hounslow Council unveiled a new survey of West London residents revealing that 96 per cent of the airport’s neighbours are opposed to a third runway.
The survey, delivered to 100,000 homes in the Heathrow area, also found that 93 per cent of local people are opposed to plans to increase the capacity of the two existing runways by introducing a new system of runway management called Mixed Mode (1).
The survey of 2,000 people living in the borough of Hounslow was conducted between January and March 2008. The other key findings were the ‘top five’ reasons why people are opposed to expansion. They are:
• 91 per cent: damage to local environment (noise, air quality etc)
• 90 per cent: negative impact on people’s health
• 87 per cent: increased risk to safety
• 86 per cent: contribution to climate change
• 84 per cent: negative impact on children’s education
In a separate but related move, Hounslow Council has warned MPs that Heathrow is in breach of a raft of environmental guidelines laid down by the UK Government, the European Union and the World Health Organisation.
According to a new report, produced for the Government’s Environmental Audit Committee, Heathrow is breaching the following environmental guidelines:
• The World Health Organisation’s guidelines for the levels for noise in people’s bedrooms
• The European Union’s guidelines for levels of nitrogen dioxide?
• British standards on the noise experienced by children in classrooms
Hounslow is one of several councils within the 2M Group of local authorities considering taking legal action. The others include Hillingdon, Wandsworth, Richmond, Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea and Windsor.
They will be supported by Mayor Boris Johnson who has pledged to back a legal challenge.
Representatives from Hounslow Council will be joining opponents to Heathrow expansion including the National Trust, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the campaign groups HACAN and NOTRAG at a press conference today.
West London's Friends of the Earth are calling the decision "a disaster for Londoners, Environment and Democracy". Their spokesman Nic Ferriday said, "This is a black day indeed. It is a disaster for Londoners, the environment and democracy. The government has decided to ignore the impacts of extra noise and air pollution. It has decided to destroy home and communities. And its climate targets, decided only two months ago, are in tatters."
The government has offered a number of environmental safeguards, but Friends of the Earth believes they are meaningless.
Nic Ferriday commented: "We cannot believe the so-called safeguards on air pollution will be effective. We already have monitoring of air pollution and it shows that air pollution levels already exceed UK and EU standards, set to protect human health. Even now, air pollution kills 1,000 Londoners ever year. If the government was serious about air pollution, it would not have given the go-ahead to a third runway."
"Halving the proposed number increase in flights is just a confidence trick. No-one can honestly believe that this limit will be adhered to. As soon as the limit is reached, the government will just succumb to lobbying from BAA and the airlines and raise the limit to the original 720,000 flights pa. Exactly the same bogus arguments about the economy and jobs will be made and, this time, there will be the additional argument that it is economic madness not to fully use such an expensive asset as a runway."
"The soothing words about climate change are also meaningless. To achieve the government's target of 80% cuts of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 we need action now. Instead, a third runway will generate a massive increase, even if only half used."
"The people of London are strongly against Heathrow expansion, but their views have been ignored. They cannot fail to see how this Labour government puts the interests of its friends in big business above ordinary people. It is hard to gauge the reaction - but it can only increase the public's distrust of politicians and cause further disengagement from the democratic system."
The reactions of local residents can be read on the ChiswickW4.com and BrentfordTW8.com forums.
January 17, 2009
