Author: John Stewart

Press Release

3/8/14 for immediate use

Third Runway would halve respite period for tens of thousands in West London

 How the flight paths will work if a third runway is built:

• Planes will land on the new runway for 12-13 hours a day
•  Planes will land on the current northern runway for 6-7 hours a day 
• Planes will land on the current southern runway for 12-13 hours a day

 Tens of thousands of people who currently enjoy a half day’s break from the aircraft noise would see their respite period halved if a third runway went ahead at Heathrow.  Campaign group HACAN, which opposes any new runway, has revealed that many areas of West London would have planes passing overhead at a rate of one every ninety seconds for almost 13 hours a day.

The information is buried in an appendix to a report HeathrowAirport slipped out before the summer holidays (1).  It shows residents under the southern flight path, over places like Richmond, would only get just over 4 hours break from the noise each day.  Currently they enjoy an 8 hour break when the planes switch runways at 3pm.

It would be all change if a third runway were to be built.  People living under the current northern flight path would continue to get around 8 hours of respite but this would be off-set for many because they will be able to hear aircraft from one of the two other runways on either side of them.

HACAN Chair John Stewart said, “The prospect of 13 hour flying is nightmarish.  Quite simply, many communities are going to be hammered if a third runway is built.”

Stewart added, “Heathrow Airport hasn’t hidden the information but the fact that it is buried in an appendix shows how reluctant they are to spell out the implications of a new runway.”

A decision on a third runway will not be taken for at least a year.  The next Government will assess the findings of the Airports Commission, to be released in summer 2015, before deciding what to do.

ENDS

 Notes for editors:

(1). Air and Ground Noise Assessment – http://your.heathrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/01-Heathrow-3RNW-Air-and-Ground-Noise-Assessment.pdf  or at 01: Air and ground noise assessment

For further information:

John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957385650

 

 

Press Release

 27/7/14 for immediate use

Residents’ fury at Heathrow compensation consultation

 Furious residents have complained to campaign group HACAN about Heathrow Airport’s most recent consultation (1).  Last week Heathrow released a three month consultation seeking people’s views on who should qualify for compensation if a third runway goes ahead.  But residents have told HACAN that they feel they are being steamrollered into accepting the fact that a third runway is inevitable at a time when the Government has made no decision on the future of Heathrow.

HACAN Chair John Stewart said, “We get a constant stream of emails from people throughout the year but rarely have we been deluged with so many angry emails as we have had this past week over this consultation.  People are simply not prepared to discuss compensation arising from a third runway they simply don’t want”.

Stewart added: “HACAN works with Heathrow Airport on issues like flight paths which can improve the quality of life for people affected by the existing Heathrow but we will not be responding to this consultation.  We believe this consultation is putting the cart before the horse (2).”

The Airports Commission, which the Government set up to look at new runways in London and the South East, will not report for another year.  It is looking at three possible options for expansion:  a third runway at Heathrow; a second runway at Gatwick; or a brand new EstuaryAirport.

ENDS

 (1).  http://your.heathrow.com/consultation/

(2). Blog by John Stewart on The cost of compensation to Heathrow: http://hacan.org.uk/blog/?p=305

 For further information:

John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957385650r

Press Release

29/6/14 for immediate use

Heathrow’s claims that a third runway will improve the overall noise climate for residents do not stack up, according to campaign group HACAN (1). It has compared Heathrow’s arguments with the findings of two recently-published reports and concludes that “Heathrow’s claims are unravelling in the face of the independent evidence.”

HACAN tested Heathrow’s evidence against the arguments put forward by the Civil Aviation Authority (2) in its new report on noise and the findings of a report from the consultancy firm Atkins carried out for the Mayor of London (3). The most damming indictment of Heathrow came from the Atkins report which showed the airport’s claim that a third runway will mean “at least 30% noise reduction” by 2030 is based on the assumption that the new runway will be only operating at one-third capacity. At full capacity, Akins shows, over one million people will be impacted, up from 725,000 today.

Both reports challenge Heathrow’s prediction that 90% of the planes using the airport in 2026, when any new runway is expected to open, will be the quieter ‘new generation’ aircraft. And they are dismissive that the proposed steeper landing approaches Heathrow wants to introduce will have any significant impact on noise levels.

Atkins verdict on Heathrow’s plans to increase respite for residents is damming. It argues that most communities will get less respite than they do today if a third runway is built. At present people in West London enjoy a half day’s break from the noise when planes switch runways at 3pm. This would be cut to a third if a new runway is built in order to give people under the new flight paths some respite.

HACAN chair John Stewart said, “We used the new reports to reality check Heathrow’s claims. The Airport came out badly. Most of its claims do not have a ring of truth about them. We could only award them 2 out of 5 on our reality score card.”

Stewart added: “Heathrow understands the need to deliver on noise. It is the biggest political barrier to a third runway. And its new proposals are an improvement on what went before but these two new independent reports illustrate the near-impossibility of sorting out noise at Heathrow.”

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

(1). HACAN Briefing attached

(2). The CAA published Managing Aviation Noise. Read here.

(3). The Mayor of London published the Inner Thames Estuary Feasibility Study. Its noise assessment was based on work commissioned by Atkins on behalf of Transport for London (TfL) from The Environmental Research and Consultancy Department (ERCD) of the CAA to calculate noise exposure contours for a series of scenarios that were developed by Atkins, and that relate to Heathrow Airport. Read TfL report.

For further information:

John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957385650

Press Release

21/4/14 for immediate use

Heathrow Airport’s outgoing chief executive Colin Matthews has admitted that the M4 would need to be diesel-free if a 3^rd runway was ever built at the airport.  Matthews told the aviation specialists Flightglobal (1), that “to fix air quality at Heathrow [you need to] replace the fleet of diesel engines coming down the M4 [motorway]”.   It is the first time that a senior Heathrow official has been so frank about the air pollution problems the airport is facing.

The European Union has made clear that its air pollution legal limits set in 2010 must be complied with by 2020 or member states face hefty fines.  In the UK, Central London and Heathrow are the two big areas of concern.  There are pockets around Heathrow which remain stubbornly above the legal limits.  The problem is caused by both the aircraft and the heavy traffic on the nearby roads and motorways.

John Stewart, chair of the campaign group HACAN, which opposes expansion of the airport, said, “We commend Colin Matthews on his honesty but it simply act of faith for the airport to believe that air pollution limits will be within the legal limits by 2026, the date a 3^rd runway would be expected to open, as the new runway would mean an extra 240,000 flights a year.”

The Airports Commission, set up by the Government, is currently assessing the case for a 3^rd runway at Heathrow and a second Gatwick runway.  It will report in summer 2015

 

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

(1).   HYPERLINK “http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/analysis-what-new-london-capacity-means-for-green-goals-397467/” http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/analysis-what-new-london-capacity-means-for-green-goals-397467/ (published 17/4/14)

For further information:

John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957386650

Press Release

5/5/14 for immediate use

Figures unearthed by campaign group HACAN caste doubt on the claims by Heathrow Airport that support for a third runway is growing amongst local residents.  Last week Heathrow claimed that there was more support now for a third runway than when it was proposed by the last Labour Government.  It cited a recent opinion poll of more than 1,000 local residents carried by Populus which showed 48% are in favour of a third runway while 34% oppose it (1). 

However, HACAN dug out a similar Populus poll carried out in 2007 which revealed very similar results:  50% of people supported a 3^rd runway and 30% were against (2).

HACAN Chair John Stewart said, “Heathrow Airport must be concerned that after more than a year of concerted, expensive and high-profile campaigning support for a third runway is little different than it was at the height of the protest six or seven years ago.  There has been no UKIP-style surge in support for a 3^rd runway.”

Populus have carried out three polls on behalf of Heathrow Airport over the last year.  All are showing that about a third of residents consistently refuse to back expansion at Heathrow (3).

Referenda and surveys that were carried out last year by Hillingdon, Richmond and Hounslow showed even less support for expansion.  Around 72% of residents opposed a 3^rd runway (4).

 

ENDS 

 

Notes for editors:

(1)   http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Heathrow-Borough-Poll-March-2014.pdf
http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Heathrow-Borough-Poll-March-2014.pdf

(2) http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/download_pdf-170907-BAA-Heathrow-Future-Heathrow-Poll.pdf
http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/download_pdf-170907-BAA-Heathrow-Future-Heathrow-Poll.pdf
http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/download_pdf-170907-BAA-Heathrow-Future-Heathrow-Poll.pdf

(3) http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Heathrow-Borough-Poll-March-2014.pdf
http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Heathrow-Borough-Poll-March-2014.pdf and
http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Heathrow_Poll_Nov131.pdf
http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Heathrow_Poll_Nov131.pdf
http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Heathrow%20Airport%20Local%20Resident%20Research.pdf
http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Heathrow%20Airport%20Local%20Resident%20Research.pdf

(4)  http://www.richmond.gov.uk/100000_say_no_to_heathrow_expansion
http://www.richmond.gov.uk/100000_say_no_to_heathrow_expansion

For more information:  John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957385650

Press Release

15/5/14 for immediate use

Heathrow Airport has been accused of cynically underestimating the number of houses that would need to be demolished to make way for a third runway.  Campaign group HACAN, which opposes expansion of the airport, has said that the detailed maps which Heathrow released yesterday (1) show that hundreds of homes on the just outside the boundary of the new runway would be uninhabitable if it went ahead.  HACAN also questions whether the Grade 1 listed Harmondsworth Great Barn will, in reality, remain standing if expansion took place.

The maps show that hundreds of homes in Sipson would be within yards of the new runway (2) and that Hamondsworth Great Barn and the Grade 2 listed St Mary’s Church beside it would very close to the airport (3).

HACAN Chair John Stewart said: “We believe that Heathrow have cynically underestimated the number of homes that would need to go and are misleading people.  Sipson would be uninhabitable and the Great Barn would be so close to the runway that it could serve as a canteen for the cabin crew to get a final coffee before boarding their plane.”

Heathrow Airport, when unveiling it plans on Tuesday, claimed that, because it has slightly altered the alignment of the new runway, it had cut the number of homes that would be demolished from 950 to 750.  Their details plans suggest it could be many more.

ENDS 

 

Notes for Editors:

(1)   http://t.co/9pY6gW5SwF
http://your.heathrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/TBF-Volume-3-72dpi-jm.pdf
http://your.heathrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/TBF-Volume-3-72dpi-jm.pdf

(2) The homes in Sipson are those just outside the red line which is the airport boundary.
INCLUDEPICTURE “cid:image001.jpg@01CF701B.C2FD45C0” \* MERGEFORMATINET

(3)  The Barn is marked in green
INCLUDEPICTURE “cid:image002.jpg@01CF701B.C2FD45C0” \* MERGEFORMATINET

 

For further information:

John Stewart on 0207 737 6641

Jane Taylor, Chair Harmondsworth and Sipson Residents Association, 07990705470