Heathrow Expansion Would Flatten Entire Village

An entire village near London's main airport may have to be demolished to make way for a third runway and a sixth terminal at Heathrow.

Among the options being considered by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly is a 2,200m third runway to be built north of Heathrow by 2020, and a sixth terminal - which will require the destruction of an entire village to go ahead.

The new runway would be built north of the A4, and allow the airport to handle about 700,000 takeoffs and landings a year by 2030. Currently there are 480,000 a year.

The proposed sixth terminal - to serve the new runway - would require 700 properties to be bulldozed, including the entire village of Sipson, on the outskirts of the airport.

The public consultation, which will run until 27 February, also includes allowing the two existing runways to be used for both takeoff and landings, rather than the current alternation method, which would allow up to 540,000 flights a year before the new runway is built.

And it suggests changing the agreements that govern the direction in which aircraft leave and arrive at the airport, but maintains the 127 sq km limit on the area "significantly affected" by aircraft noise - at levels of 57 decibels.

Ms Kelly said: "Heathrow supports 170,000 jobs, billions of pounds of British exports and is our main gateway to the global economy. But for too long it has operated at nearly full capacity, with relatively minor problems causing severe delays to passengers.

"If nothing changes, Heathrow's status as a world-class airport will be gradually eroded - jobs will be lost and the economy will suffer."

But she said "any decision on expansion has to be compatible with meeting tough local environmental tests on noise and air quality" and she wanted people to make their views known.

But the Conservatives accused Ms Kelly of "running scared" as she issued a written statement, rather than coming to Parliament to answer MPs' questions.

The announcement follows consultation on plans to expand Heathrow, which were first mooted in the government's 2003 aviation White Paper.

BAA chief executive Stephen Nelson commented: "Heathrow has been over capacity for 17 years, it's now handling 60,000 more passengers a day than it was built for - that puts us under extraordinary pressure."

He said the airport was an "economic powerhouse" which brought tourists, businesses and jobs to London - he argues a third runway could be worth £9bn a year to the national economy.

However, Friends of the Earth's aviation campaigner Richard Dyer said: "Aviation is already the fastest growing source of UK carbon dioxide emissions.

"Building a third runway at Heathrow will inevitably lead to even more flights and more pollution."

But the GMB union said an extra runway and terminal at Heathrow would be welcome because the current infrastructure was worn out and a major cause of delays to flights.

(BMcC)