Third runway threat to Royal Borough

25 September 2003

"No go to Heathrow" is the clear message to Government as it looks at ways of increasing air transport capacity in the southeast.

Royal Borough Councillors have made it clear that a third runway at Heathrow - one of a number of options put forward for consultation - would be totally unacceptable.

Council's Deputy Leader, Cllr Daniel Moylan has told the Department for Transport that "the expansion of Heathrow will have a detrimental impact on the Royal Borough because of the increased demand for surface transport and increases in air and noise pollution from additional planes and new flight paths."

The Government's consultation document on 'The Future of Air Transport in the UK' put forward a range of proposals to handle the expected increase in demand for air travel, including the construction of new airport infrastructure.

After a legal challenge that saw expansion at Gatwick join other options including a new airport at Cliffe in Kent or expansion at Stansted or Heathrow, the consultation period was extended until the end of June. The Government is now expected to publish a White Paper at the end of the year giving details of where expansion will take place.

The consultation document includes a proposal to expand Heathrow Airport by constructing a third, 2000m (2187 yards) runway north of the existing airport, an option that Royal Borough Councillors are determined to fight.

They believe that even if a case can be made for expanding the capacity of airports in the southeast, "any increased capacity should not be provided at Heathrow."

The Council is also concerned that a third runway at Heathrow would be followed by proposals for a sixth terminal, because the only other way for aircraft to reach the new facility would be by crossing the existing northern runway.

That possibility prompted the Cllr Moylan to point out that the Department for Transport had "either not thought through all the requirements of a third runway or had been less than frank about the full implications of building a third runway."

He also pointed out that a third runway would have a massive impact on increased 'greenhouse gas' emissions. He said that while the government had accepted that there would be an impact on national air quality targets it had "failed to recognise the potential impact on global warming."

A third runway at Heathrow would increase flight numbers by nearly 50 per cent by 2030 and would affect hundreds of thousands of Londoners living near or under the proposed flight path. Kensington and Chelsea residents would be among those affected, along with people living in parts of Heston, Chiswick and Hammersmith.

The London Borough of Hillingdon has also expressed its strong opposition to a third runway, claiming that Heathrow represented "a history of broken promises and piecemeal expansion."

Hillingdon has pointed out that expansion at Heathrow would need 230 hectares (568 acres) of 'greenbelt' land and result in the destruction of more than 260 properties, including a number of important listed buildings. Expansion at Heathrow would have "a substantially greater noise impact than any other option."

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