Stop Heathrow Expansion!

A date for your diary:
MON 25TH FEB
Stop Heathrow Expansion.
Rally at Westminster Central Hall - 7PM.
We need to fill the hall!
E-mail your views directly to: heathrowconsultation@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Check these sites: www.stopheathrowexpansion.com
www.hacan.org.uk
www.notrag.org

This is from the Stop Heathrow Expansion website:

Why oppose expansion?

It is not necessary
78% of businesses in London oppose it (London Chamber of Commerce Report 2006). There is no hard evidence to show that the UK economy will suffer if Heathrow doesn’t expand. Indeed, the evidence suggests that proximity to a major airport is not the critical factor when businesses are deciding where to locate. A low-tax economy and the availability of a well-trained work force are usually more important. The Government’s own report, Transport and the Economy, (1999) found that, in a mature economy, which already has a well-developed transport system (such as the UK), any increase in economic growth from improved transport is likely to be modest (The Plane Truth: Aviation and the Environment, published by the Ashden Trust).

It will contribute to climate change
Aviation already accounts for 13% of UK global warming emissions and is the fastest-growing contributor to climate change. The Government’s plans to expand Heathrow, and many other airports across the country, undermines its stated objective to reduce climate change emissions.

It will destroy communities
It is often assumed that it is only transient communities living in poor housing who live near airports. Nothing could be further from the truth as far as Harmondsworth, Sipson, Harlington and West Drayton are concerned – the places that will be directly affected by the proposed expansion. These are settled communities where many people have lived all their lives, a lot of them having worked at the airport. And, because they are parallel to the airport, they are not overflown. Thousands of people will be forced out of many of these communities, as expansion plans will require the demolition of schools, pubs, shops and at least 750 homes.

It will destroy people’s quality of life
Aircraft noise will become a problem for many more people. At least 150,000 people will be under the flight path to the new runway, most of them experiencing aircraft noise for the first time. And the prospect for people living under the existing flight paths is frightening: a plane every 90 seconds virtually throughout the day.

HACAN and NoTRAG (No Third Runway Action Group) are not alone in opposing further expansion at Heathrow. Never before has there been such powerful – and such united – opposition to expansion at the airport.