Category: Latest news

Well over 1 million oppose 3rd runway, polls reveal

Numbers that will worry any Government

Well over a million people in London and the South East oppose a third runway at Heathrow.  And there is no sign of their opposition weakening.  Indeed, the support for Heathrow expansion has remained static over the last seven years or so.

The figures have come to light following an analysis of recent polls by the campaign group HACAN which opposes expansion of Heathrow.  HACAN looked at the Populus polls commissioned by Heathrow Airport (1).

They show that:

  • A stubborn one third of the population consistently opposes a third runway
  • Around 50% of people support expansion
  • These figures have not changed over the last seven years

A poll of more than 1,000 local residents carried out by Populus last year showed 48% in favour of a third runway while 34% oppose: http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Heathrow-Borough-Poll-March-2014.pdf.  A 2007 Populus poll found 50% supported a 3rd runway and 30% against were against: http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/download_pdf-170907-BAA-Heathrow-Future-Heathrow-Poll.pdf”

In 2014 Populus polled seven boroughs – Hillingdon, Hounslow, Richmond, Ealing, Windsor and Maidenhead, Spelthorne and Kinsgton.  Around a third of people opposed a third runway in each borough.  That is about 480,000 in total.

HACAN chair John Stewart said, “If nearly half a million are opposed to a new runway in just seven boroughs, we can say with some certainty that over a million people across London and the South East don’t want it.  These are figures which will worry any Government thinking of giving a green light to a new runway.  In political terms, the level of support for expansion almost becomes irrelevant”

Stewart added, “What is also significant is that the figures have hardly budged over the last seven years despite the huge advertising and PR campaigns mounted by Heathrow Airport.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

 (1). HACAN has expressed reservations about the Populus polls believing there may be a bias in them towards expansion at Heathrow.

For further information:

John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957385650

The case of the mysterious post boxes appearing in Heathrow’s terminals

Post boxes have started to appear in the terminals Heathrow Airport urging customers to ‘help us expand Heathrow’.  They coincide with the final public consultation being held by the Airports Commission which is looking at whether a third runway should be built at Heathrow or a second one at Gatwick.  The Commission’s final report will be published after May’s General Election.  The next Government will need to decide whether to accept or reject its recommendations.

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John Stewart, chair of HACAN, which campaigns against a new runway, said “Local people alerted us to these post boxes. They are quite attractive but I suspect they are not there just to be decorative.  It seems as if Heathrow is using passengers as a weapon in its fight to get a third runway.”

Questions are being asked by campaigners whether passengers are being handed forms as they come off their planes for them to send to Heathrow or put into the post boxes.

Stewart added: “I suspect Heathrow may have miscalculated.  The Airports Commission will be more interested in solid arguments rather than in sifting through forms founds in posting boxes dotted around Heathrow’s last chance saloon.”

Neil Keveren, who chairs SHE (Stop Heathrow Expansion), said, “These post boxes illustrate the David and Goliath of this battle.  We are fighting in our spare time to stop our homes being knocked down and our communities destroyed while Heathrow Airport is not only able to spend millions but use passengers from around the globe that have little interest in communities such as ours.”

ENDS

 Notes for Editors:

For further information:

John Stewart on 0207 737 6641 or 07957385650

Neil Keveren on 07850904677;  www.stopheathrowexpansion.co.uk

Press release dated 7/1/15

Heathrow Hub staging exhibitions

They will be of particular interest to people living under the existing northern flight path as you are in line for more flights.  A chance to find out how the Heathrow Hub proposals would affect you.  This is the plan that intends to extend the existing northern runway at the western end so that it can operate as two runways.

Heathrow Hub Consultation events:

 Monday 12 Jan – St Marys Church, High Street, Harmondsworth, Middlesex. UB7 0AQ. 13.00-20.00

Tuesday 13 Jan – Datchet Village Hall, 3 Allen Way, Datchet, SL3 9HR. 13.00-20.00

Wednesday 14 Jan – Wraysbury Village Hall, The Green, Wraysbury, Staines, TW19 5NA. 13.00-20.00

Thursday 15 Jan – Richings Park Sports Club, Richings Park, Wellesley Avenue, Iver, Buckinghamshire, SL0 9BN. 13.00-20.00

Monday 19 Jan – Windsor Leisure Centre, Clewer Mead, Stovell Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 5JB. 13.00-20.00

Tuesday 20 Jan – Colnbrook Village Hall, Vicarage Way, Colnbrook, Berkshire, SL3 0RF. 13.00-18.00

Wednesday 21 Jan – Cranford Baptist Church Hall, 1 Firs Drive, Cranford, Middlesex, TW5 9TA. 13.00-18.00

Thursday 22 Jan – Christ the Saviour Parish Church Hall, New Broadway, Ealing, London, W5 2XA. 13.00-18.00

Heathrow’s Populus Survey:  the script

Judge for yourself whether these questions may lead you to give particular answers: 

Heathrow has used results from telephone surveys it has commissioned from the polling firm, Populus, to claim around 50% support for a 3rd runway but questions have been persistently asked about the script Populus has used.  And enterprising resident had the presence of mind to take detailed notes when she was phoned.

Read the questions here.  Populus Survey the script

 

Back Heathrow’s methods exposed

The method’s of the controversial pro-expansion group Back Heathrow have been exposed in the Sunday Times (30/11/14)

“HEATHROW came under fire from senior politicians and environmentalists this weekend after bankrolling a community campaign group that claims to represent the “silent majority” who want a third runway at the airport.

Hundreds of thousands of homes in London have received a series of glossy newsletters and surveys from Back Heathrow, a group that says it is “building a community of support for Heathrow airport”.

Designed like a tabloid newspaper, the leaflets include stark warnings that “114,000 jobs are at risk if Heathrow shuts down”. Three of the four newsletters delivered during the past year fail to disclose that Back Heathrow is funded by the airport.

Critics claim the group is a version of an aggressive lobbying tactic called “astroturfing” — when a movement is portrayed as a grassroots initiative but is actually run on behalf of corporate interests.

“This is straight out of Big Tobacco and anti-climatechange-type strategies where you simply scaremonger through an ‘astroturf’ group that you set up and fund at arm’s length,” said Jeff Gazzard, a spokesman for the pressure group Aviation Environment Federation.

Back Heathrow denied it was a front for the airport and Heathrow said it had “always been transparent” about the fact it helped fund the group.

The most recent newsletter, which was delivered to up to 750,000 homes, claimed more than 50,000 residents were supporting Back Heathrow’s campaign.

“People from all ages and walks of life are joining Back Heathrow and this silent majority is beginning to have its voice heard,” it said.

Back Heathrow’s campaign co-ordinator, Rob Gray, is a former director of the Aviation Foundation, a lobbying group established by the industry.

He set up Back Heathrow as a limited company in July 2013 with Nathan Fletcher, a senior PR officer at the airport. Fletcher, who is now Heathrow’s head of news, resigned as a director in April.

Michael Appleton, Back Heathrow’s communications manager, is a former communications officer at the airport.

Gray refused to reveal how much funding Back Heathrow had received from the airport, saying only that it was more than £100,000. He said the group had also received a donation from Heathrow Hub, a group that has submitted a rival plan to expand the airport, as well as smaller donations from residents and businesses.

Matthew Gorman, the airport’s director of sustainability and environment, was questioned about Heathrow’s support for the group during a heated meeting last Thursday of around 150 residents in Putney, southwest London.

Gorman insisted the airport had been “very open” that it had “provided some funding to set Back Heathrow up and we continue to provide some funding”.

Asked by The Sunday Times after the meeting how much funding the airport had provided, he replied: “I don’t know exactly.” He then refused to answer further questions.

Justine Greening, the Conservative cabinet minister and MP for Putney, accused Back Heathrow of “making out that they are some sort of residents’ group”.

Ravi Govindia, the Tory leader of Wandsworth council, said Heathrow was not being “open” about its relationship with the group, and Ray Puddifoot, the Hillingdon council leader, who has been criticised in Back Heathrow’s literature, said his local authority regarded the airport with “disdain because of the tactics that they are using”.

Back Heathrow states on its website that it was “initially launched” with money from the airport but does not admit it continues to receive donations.

One of its leaflets, delivered in September last year, discloses it is “supported and financed” by Heathrow.

Gray said: “The uncomfortable truth for those opposed to Heathrow expansion is that the levels of support we have attracted from residents reflect what almost all independent polls show — that there is majority support in local areas for growth at the UK’s hub airport.”

A Heathrow spokeswoman said the airport “continued efforts to give a voice to those who had previously not been heard in the debate on the airport’s future”.

 

 

Airports Consultation Explained

Your last chance to tell the Airports Commission what you think………..

The final consultation from the Airports Commission was launched on 11th November. We have produced a 4 page summary outlining the key points of the consultation. Airports Commission Consultation Briefing Explained

The Commission is asking for comments on whether it has assessed its three shortlisted schemes correctly.

You may simply want to email the Commission to say in your own words why you oppose a third runway.  Email: airports.consultation@systra.com.  This short paper on may help you: http://hacan.org.uk/10-reasons-to-oppose-a-3rd-runway/

Heathrow or Gatwick: “In the end of the day, it will come down to political deliverability”

Press Release

 11/11/14 for immediate use

 Airports Commission:  Third Runway will cost up to £4 billion more than Heathrow Airport estimates

The public consultation document issued by the Airports Commission this morning argues that a third runway at Heathrow will cost up to £4 billion more than the Airport has estimated.  A second runway at Gatwick would also be more expensive that its promoters claim but would cause far fewer noise problems than Heathrow’s third runway.  Expansion at Heathrow would do more for the national economy but a second runway at Gatwick would also deliver considerable economy benefits.

 HACAN chair John Stewart said, “Both Gatwick and Heathrow are very much in the running.  In the end of the day it will come down to political deliverability.   A new runway at either airport would boost the economy but the report underscores the fact the noise at Gatwick would affect far fewer people.  For politicians, that could be the clincher.”

On 3 December 2014 will be holding a public session near Heathrow where the consultation document will be debated.  Entry will be by ticket only. The Commission will announce shortly how to register.

The consultation ends on 3rd February.  The Airports Commission is due to deliver its final report in July next year, two months after the General Election.

ENDS

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