Heathrow expansion
On Tuesday night, there was a meeting to talk about the Heathrow expansion programme at St Michaels and All Angels in Chiswick. It was supposed to have taken place upstairs, but there were so many people that they had to move it to the actual church.We are also given the chance to make our voices heard on Tuesday 12th February 7.00 at Hammersmith Town Hall. The expansion programme will affect us all. Please support the opposition by attending the meeting in Hammersmith and by signing the petition at http://www.stopheathrowexpansion.com/. You can also ask the Department for Transport (on 0845 600 4170) to have their consultation paper/questionnaire (which was of course not sent to anyone affected) sent to you, fill it in and send it back. All the representatives at the meeting in Chiswick recommended that you do not answer any of their questions, as they have been phrased in a way that does not allow you to say that you oppose it. Instead, go directly to the end where there is a section for additional comments, and just write that you oppose any expansion of Heathrow airport. The Stop Heathrow Expansion website is very informative and the text below has been taken from this site describing the impact the proposals will have on us.-FROM THE WEBSITE-A big increase in planes for everybody in London and the Home CountiesThe sheer scale of the proposals means that few areas of London and the Home counties will be unaffected. There will be more planes landing; more planes taking off; and, if a third runway is built, whole neighbourhoods under the landing or take-off flight path for the first time.800,000 flights using Heathrow each yearIf the Government’s proposals go ahead, the number of flights using the airport will nearly double. Former Aviation Minister Gillian Merron told Parliament earlier this year that flight numbers could reach 800,000 if a third runway goes ahead and runway alternation on the existing runways is abolished. That’s up from 473,000 last year. . In the consultation document is saying that flight numbers would only reach just over 700,000 as runway alternation on the existing runways would be restored once a third runway became operational. But, give the history of broken promises, many people are sceptical that this will happen. A third runwayA third runway would be built between the A4 and M4, north of the existing airport. It would require the demolition of over 750 houses, including the entire village of Sipson. More than 3,000 people would lose their homes. Schools, pubs and churches would all be demolished.A new runway = new flight pathsAstonishingly the Government has still not made it clear where new flight paths will be, claiming it is only in a position to show ‘indicative’ routes. But, because planes need to be lined with the runway at least 6-8 miles from touchdown, it is clear that the new landing flight path will be over Holland Park and High St Kensington, the northern parts of Earls Court, Hammersmith and Chiswick before planes sweep in over Heston. To the west, the flight path is likely to be over Maidenhead and Slough. There will be new flights paths over Harrow, Northolt and Paddington. Also a lot more take-offs over North London.Expect a plane every 90 seconds on the new flight path throughout the day but, we are told, no night flights.Loss of Runway Alternation: West London’s half day’s peace and quietAt present planes landing over West London switch runways at 3pm in order to give people in West London a half day’s peace and quiet. The Government is proposing to stop this. It claims that, initially at least, it will only use both runways during busy times of the day. But the strong suspicion is that, once the principle is accepted, the number of planes will gradually be ratcheted up.More trafficThe Government and BAA make claims that the percentage of people travelling by public transport to the airport will increase. That may be true but misses the point. The actual number of cars and taxis using the airport will increase significantly if aircraft numbers rise to 800,000 a year.More noiseThe Government says that the planned expansion will not mean an increase in noise levels! That defies commonsense! It tries to justify its claim with technical jargon, saying that the ‘noise contour’ it measures will not increase. What the Government doesn’t say is that this ‘noise contour’ only covers people living close to the airport!More pollutionThe Government claims that its studies show that, even if these expansion proposals go ahead, pollution levels will stay within the EU legal limits. In many places they already exceed those limits. How does the Government square this circle? By making what can only be called ‘over-optimistic’ assumptions about the introduction of cleaner aircraft and by claiming it will be able to control pollution from cars and lorries around Heathrow.Climate ChangeAviation already accounts for 13% of all climate change emissions in the UK. At the current rate of growth aviation emissions will wipe out all savings from other sources of climate change in the UK over the next 20 years. The Government says climate change is one of its biggest challenges. Its answer is to propose the biggest-ever expansion at Heathrow. Will it affect night flights?The Government says that there are no proposals to increase the number of night flights but commonsense suggests that, with an almost doubling of the number of aircraft using the airport, the pressure to bring in more flights at night will increase.
Sharon Isaac-Upton ● 6555d24 Comments