Author: John Stewart

Campaigners to turn up at Magistrates Court to support direct action crane protestors

Campaigners against airport expansion are planning to turn up outside Uxbridge Magistrates Court (1) on Friday to support the protestors who climbed the crane on the Terminal 5 site last week. All 7 protestors will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates Court at 9.30 am on Friday 17th October charged with “Aggravated Trespass”.

On Monday 6th October the protestors climbed a crane on the site of Terminal 5. Four of them came down at the end of the day, but the remaining protestors stayed up until Saturday morning.

John Stewart, Chair of HACAN ClearSkies, said, “A number of our members will be outside the court on Friday to give the protestors support. Increasingly, many of our members feel that direct action may be the only way to stop the expansion of Heathrow. Time and again they were promised that Heathrow would not expand further. Each time they were let down. They feel angry, bitter and betrayed.”

Notes for Editors

1. Uxbridge Magistrates Court is in the centre of Uxbridge, at the corner of the High St and Harefield Road.

For further information contact John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957 385650.

Campaigners bring Road Show to the Borough of Hounslow

Last weekend campaigners against a third runway at Heathrow brought their Road Show to the Borough of Hounslow. (1). Members of the anti-noise group HACAN ClearSkies, together with the No Third Runway Action Group and leading Hounslow councillors, (2) took to the streets of the borough to warn residents that if a third runway gets the go-ahead, parts of the borough would be directly under the new flight path (3).

The Government is expected to announce its decision on a third runway when it publishes its Aviation White Paper in December. Other options for airport expansion in the South East include new runways at Stansted and Gatwick airports.

John Stewart, Chair of HACAN ClearSkies, said, “Our Road Show is visiting the areas of London that will be under the new flight path if a third runway goes ahead. Many people in Hounslow will be living directly under the new flight path to Heathrow with a plane passing overhead every 90 seconds. It is a disgrace that the Government has not spelt out to people what is in store for them.”

Notes for Editors

1. The campaigners were in the borough on Saturday 18th October. They gave out leaflets from their lorry in Heston and in Hounslow Town Centre — pictures attached of the campaigners giving out leaflets in Heston.

2. HACAN ClearSkies is the well-established group which represents residents under the Heathrow flight path. The Road Show is a joint venture with Hillingdon and Hounslow councils and the No Third Runway Action Group (which represents the people in the southern part of Hillingdon whose homes are threatened by the third runway).

3. The new landing flight path will be to the north of the existing northern runway. People in North Chiswick, Norwood Green and Heston will be affected. People living under the existing flight paths will also experience more noise as they will get all the heavy, noisy planes because all the smaller aircraft will use the 3rd runway.

For further information contact John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957 385650.

Campaigners from Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted meet with direct-action experts

Campaigners against airport expansion are preparing to take direct action against any new runways the Government may propose in its Aviation White Paper, expected later this year (1). Earlier this week campaigners from Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted met with members of the Rising Tide direct action network and other direct action experts (2). The protesters began the process of drawing up plans for a campaign of direct action and civil disobedience.

John Stewart, the Chair of HACAN ClearSkies, “New Labour could face the same sort of angry protests over runway expansion as the Conservatives encountered over their road building plans in the 1990s. Protesters are furious that the Government seems prepared to override the interests of local communities in its desire to please it friends in the aviation industry. It is no longer a question of if direct action will take place, but where.”

Stewart added, “It is significant that campaigners from all three of the South East’s main airports were present at the meeting about direct action. The message to Alistair Darling was quite clear: we will stand up to the bulldozers together.”

Protesters will be working closely with direct experts over the coming months to put in place a strategic campaign plan for direct action. This will include training local people in direct action techniques.

Notes for Editors

1. The Aviation White Paper is expected in December. It will include the Government’s decision on its favoured sites for new runways. The options for new runways and new airports were laid out in the consultation document published earlier this year. The consultation period ended on 30th June.

2. Individual campaigners from Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick were present along with members of Friends of the Earth. A similar meeting will be held in the Midlands to involve campaigners against the expansion of Birmingham Airport.

For further information contact John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957 385650.

HACAN ClearSkies claims that airports are putting profits before the safety and security of their passengers

Pressure group HACAN ClearSkies claimed that airports are putting profits before the safety and security of their passengers. In the week when governments warned that terrorists may be turning cameras into weapons or bombs (1), tests carried out by HACAN ClearSkies reveal that bottles, bought at duty-free, can be brought on to planes by passengers.

A HACAN ClearSkies member, travelling to Thailand from Heathrow, deliberately tried to take a bottle of wine and a small pair of scissors on to the plane. The security refused to allow him to take the scissors, but raised no objection to the bottle of wine. When the member pointed out that, on the plane, he could smash the bottle and cut people’s throats with the glass, the security continued to insist it was not a forbidden item.

John Stewart, the Chair of HACAN ClearSkies, “Our test showed that airports are prepared to put profits before the personal security of their passengers. They make no money on scissors, whereas they do a roaring trade in bottles of wine or perfume. For that reason they clearly regard these bottles as a cut above things like a pair of scissors.”

Notes for Editors

1. It has been reported this week that the CIA has warned that teams of al-Qa’da suicide-hijackers could be plotting to seize airliners using everyday items, such as cameras, turned into bombs or weapons.

For more information:

John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 0757 385650 (Thursday, Friday and Saturday only — thereafter on a week’s holiday).

Mike Riley, HACAN ClearSkies spokesman, 019327 61325 or 0781 0007477

Monica Robb, Vice Chair HACAN ClearSkies, 0208 876 0455.

‘British Airways reputation as a responsible company is in tatters’

Campaigners against a 3rd runway at Heathrow will stage a colourful stunt outside the British Airways AGM on Tuesday 15th July (1). Representatives from HACAN ClearSkies and the No Third Runway Action Group will be dressed up in gas masks and boiler suits to highlight the fact that, if a 3rd runway is built, air pollution levels around Heathrow will be above the EU legal limits (2).

John Stewart, Chair of HACAN ClearSkies, said, “British Airways reputation as a responsible company is in tatters. Last week it was revealed as the main supporter of night flights at Heathrow. It is now clear it is pushing for a 3rd runway regardless of the effect it would have on the health of the local community. Quite simply, British Airways makes you sick.”

Notes for Editors

1. The British Airways AGM is being held at the Queen Elizabeth 11 Conference Centre (opposite Westminster Abbey). It starts at 11am. But shareholders will arrive from 9.30am. The campaigners expect to be outside the building from 9.30am until 11am.

2. The Government admitted in the SERAS consultation on the 3rd runway that up to 35,000 people could be affected by nitrogen dioxide levels above the EU legal limit if a 3rd runway is built. Subsequently BA and BAA did a study which claimed that the levels would be lower, but this study has not been independently verified. If EU levels are breached, the UK Government would be fined by the EU for every day that a breech occurred. The Government will announce its decision on a 3rd runway as part of its Aviation White Paper, expected in December of this year.

For more information contact John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957 385650.

Residents vow to fight to win

Residents from HACAN ClearSkies vowed to continue their fight to stop night flights at Heathrow following today’s judgement from the European Court of Human Rights. The court overturned the earlier judgment that night flights breached the Human Rights Convention (1), but it gave the residents the green light to take their fight back to the UK courts (2).

John Stewart, Chair HACAN ClearSkies, said, “The European court seems to have given us the opportunity to argue our case again in the UK courts. We fight on. We fight to win. We believe it is a battle we will win as we have the support of most of the politicians in London and the Thames Valley. The political pressure on the Government will remain to do something about night flight.”

Notes for Editors

1. The Appeal Court did not agree, by a majority of 12-5, with the the judgement of the earlier court (released in October 2001) that night flights were a breach of Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention that guarantees people a right to “the peaceful enjoyment” of their own homes.

2. The Appeal Court did find, by a majority of 18-1 (only the UK judge dissenting), that, under Article 13 of the Human Rights Convention, the residents had not been given the opportunity to make their case fully in the UK Courts: crucially, that they had not been able to argue the human rights aspects of the case in the UK courts because human rights legislation had not been incorporated into UK law at the time.

For further information contact John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957 385650.