On the 18th June Heathrow Airport launched their statutory consultation on the plans for expansion. This consultation is a step Heathrow must undertake to support their planning application for a 3rd runway, and the consultation will run until 13th September.
The consultation outlines the details of the proposals to build a new runway and the associated airport infrastructure including terminals and roads. It also includes information about night flights and how a 3-runway airport will operate including the proposed additional 25,000 flights before a 3rd runway even opens.
The consultation seeks feedback on:
- Heathrow’s preferred masterplan for expansion: Their proposals for the future layout of the airport including the runway and other airport infrastructure such as terminals and road access.
- Plans to operate the future airport: how the future three runway airport will be operated, including important elements such as night flights. It will also set out how the 25,000 additional flights could be operated.
- Assessment of impacts of the airport’s growth: Heathrow’s preliminary assessment of the likely impacts of expansion on the environment and local communities;
- Plans to manage the impacts of expansion: Heathrow’s plans for mitigating the effects of expansion, including property compensation, its Noise Insulation Policy, a Community Compensation Fund, and measures to mitigate against air pollution, carbon, and other environmental effects.
Zac Goldsmith MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston said: "The Heathrow master plan reveals the magnitude of the destruction that will be inflicted on so many communities. The proposals will result in significant increases in air and noise pollution that will be detrimental to the health of potentially millions of people. Expansion is completely at odds with the climate emergency and the need to deliver Net Zero."
Ahead of the consultation, Paul Beckford, Policy Director of the No 3rd Runway Coalition, the leading
campaign organisation opposing the expansion of Heathrow, said:
“Heathrow will claim this is the largest consultation ever and that may well be right. However, this
simply reflects the sheer scale of the impact that their expansion plans will have on local
communities.
“Our communities will be destroyed by these expansion proposals, with 783 homes demolished
and another 3,000 homes rendered unliveable owing to the construction and pollution. 2 million
more people will be exposed to aircraft noise at levels that have a detrimental impact on health
and millions will be exposed to significant increases in air pollution from vehicles accessing the
airport as well as the 700 additional planes in the skies every single day.
“Incredibly, it now appears that Heathrow want to be spread the misery of their expansion plans
over a 30-year period, inflicting the blight of construction and the resultant increases in air and
noise pollution on communities across London for decades.
“Every community across London and the Home Counties will experience the impacts to these
proposals and we urge anyone concerned about the expansion to state their objections loudly
and clearly in their responses to the consultation.”
Heathrow hopes to open the new runway in 2026, but the consultation makes clear that a lot of the associated infrastructure will be phased in so there will be construction going on in the local area until 2050.
As this is the statutory consultation, it is vital that residents respond with any comments on the range of issues raised. Heathrow must demonstrate that they have incorporated feedback from local communities in their final planning application for development consent to be granted.
There are two Heathrow consultation meetings taking place locally on:
- 27th August 2019 – Kingston Upon Thames 2pm – 8pm
Kingston University London Penrhyn Road Campus
- 28th August 2019 – Richmond 2pm – 8pm
Richmond Adult Community College, Parkshot, London
The full range of consultation documents including the masterplan, the environmental impact report and the proposals for mitigation and compensation can be found here: https://aec.heathrowconsultation.com/
