HEATHROW HIDING REAL REASON FOR NEW CONSULTATION
STOP HEATHROW EXPANSION
PRESS RELEASE
7 January 2020
For immediate use
HEATHROW HIDING REAL REASON FOR NEW CONSULTATION
Heathrow Airport have announced a fresh batch of consultation for its proposals to expand the airport, citing a ruling by the Civil Aviation Authority which capped the amount of money the airport can spend on the plans prior to obtaining final planning approval (1).
On 19 December the CAA, the UK’s aviation regulator, stated that spending prior to the project receiving final approval would be capped at £1.5bn, rather than Heathrow’s preferred figure of £3bn, because of concerns about the costs falling on to passengers if the plans are abandoned in the meantime (2).
But Stop Heathrow Expansion, a local group campaigning against the proposals believe that a major reason for the new consultation is in fact because the previous consultation, held in 2018 and 2019, did not meet legal environmental requirements. Heathrow dismissed the Government’s legally binding net zero emissions target by 2050 on the basis that is doesn’t include emission from aviation. This is despite being the biggest source of greenhouse gases in the United Kingdom (3).
The group also highlights the lack of assessment of health impacts to those facing more air pollution, noise and light pollution, as well as the impact of the many thousands displaced and required to move to another area as a result of the proposals. The inadequate plans to relocate a primary school next to a major by-pass with illegal pollution levels was also representative of the lack of consideration of health impacts to children (4).
Geraldine Nicholson from local campaign group Stop Heathrow Expansion, said:
“This 3rd runway proposal is becoming a bit of a joke. We are asked to engage with yet another consultation so Heathrow can sow destruction on our area and environment for the benefit of its overseas shareholders.
“Heathrow are hiding behind the recent Civil Aviation Authority’s ruling to disguise the real reason for this consultation is in fact because the previous consultation was disturbingly light on serious impacts that this project will have, whether for people around the airport or the wider environment.
“Residents are becoming tired of being asked yet again on their preferred way to destroy the area and just want the project to be scrapped at the very earliest opportunity.”
ENDS.
Notes:
https://www.cityam.com/regulators-report-stalls-new-heathrow-runway/
Heathrow Expansion Consultation, June 2019, Consultation Document, p. 88
For more information, contact Rob Barnstone, Stop Heathrow Expansion, 07806947050 or Robert.barnstone@outlook.com