A decade of blight

Over 150,000 people face a decade of blight because of the uncertainty over the expansion of Heathrow Airport

Over 150,000 people face a decade of blight because of the uncertainty over the expansion of Heathrow Airport, pressure group HACAN ClearSkies has claimed. They are under threat from delays in approving a third runway and a sixth terminal at the airport. The plans, first announced in the Government’s Aviation White Paper, are confirmed in BAA’s Master Plan published today (1).

In its Master Plan BAA admits that around 700 homes close to the airport will need to be demolished to make way for a third runway and a sixth terminal (2). But the Master Plan is expected to say less about the thousands of people who face the prospect of living under the third flight path that will be required for a third runway. In its Aviation White Paper the Government admitted that around 150,000 people under this new flight path would experience annoying levels of aircraft noise. Places affected include Slough and Maidenhead to the west of Heathrow and Heston, North Chiswick and parts of Kensington and Chelsea to the east of the airport.

John Stewart, Chair of HACAN ClearSkies, “Because a third runway is at least ten years away all these people will face a decade of blight. Hardest hit, of course, will be the communities of Sipson, Harmondsworth and Harlingon, which will be virtually wiped out if expansion takes place.”

Stewart added, “There is nothing new in today’s announcement from BAA. All these proposals were in the White Paper. But they do confirm the way that both the Government and the aviation industry are prepared to play with people’s lives in order to get what they want.”

Notes for Editors:

  1. All airports are required to draw up Master Plans. They are expected to set out the way any proposals for expansion will affect the surrounding areas. The requirement was laid down in the Aviation White Paper, published in December 2003. The White Paper suggested that a 3rd runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow be put on the back-burner until at least 2015 because of the concern that they might result in EU legal limits for air pollution, due to come in at the end of 2009, being broken.

  2. The publication of the Master Plan does not mean that permission has been given for a 3rd runway or 6th terminal. They would still need to go though a public consultation and Public Enquiry process.

  3. The Government’s consultation document, produced in the run-up to the White Paper, estimated that around 150,000 people under the new flight path would experience noise levels in excess of 54 decibels (averaged out throughout the day) – the level where the World Health Organisation has found that the noise will be becoming seriously annoying. Some parts of North Chiswick, northern Earls Court and parts of Kensington currently have no aircraft at all.

For further information contact John Stewart on 020 7737 6641 or 07957 385650.