Where to build a desperately-needed extra runway in the South East is of course a matter in which local residents will deservedly have a say. But more than that, it is an issue of national importance.
More and more people are coming to the conclusion that it is at Heathrow that expansion makes most sense. Take the South West. By the time the expansion of Heathrow is complete, a new rail link from Heathrow to the Great Western main line will allow trains to access the airport directly from Reading and beyond. Electrification of the line will bring faster trains, turning Heathrow into a local airport for the South West. The rail link will provide direct services, too, to South Wales, Oxford. The Midlands will be accessible by changing trains at Old Oak Common.
Across the country, one in four people living in Britain will be able to access Heathrow from their local station with no more than one change en route. But it isn’t just about passengers. Air freight is the element which is often forgotten from the runway debate. Yet it is a market in which Heathrow is even more critical, with 65 per cent of airfreight travelling to and from Britain passing through the airport. Much of it travels in the hold of passenger jets travelling to the sort of destinations which only a hub airport can support. In the South West alone, a third runway promises to create an extra £10 billion of economic activity and to create 12,300 jobs.
It is little wonder that more than 30 chambers of commerce across the UK have expressed their approval for expansion at Heathrow, many of them in the South West from as far away as Dorset, Plymouth and even Cornwall. Across the country, calculated the Davies report on airport expansion, a third runway will add up to £211 billion to the economy and create 180,000 jobs. As well as gaining the support of business it has the backing of several of the large unions, including GMB and Unite.
While commentators have concentrated on a minority of MPs who are against expansion at Heathrow, there is a significant majority of MPs as a whole who are in favour of expansion at Heathrow. Of those asked by the polling organisation Dods 69 per cent were in favour of a third runway at Heathrow. That includes 31 per cent who would like expansion at both Heathrow and Gatwick.
Of course it is important that the views of local residents in West London are taken into account with Heathrow’s expansion plans. While expansion inevitably means some properties being lost, consultation with local residents has resulted in the scheme being redesigned to reduce the number of residents impacted. Overall, the experience for most people in the Heathrow area will be beneficial. Reconfiguration of flight paths and steeper descents by landing aircraft will mean that 200,000 fewer people will be affected by noise. Aircraft will land 700 metres further inside the airport boundary than before, resulting in less noise and greater safety.
For the owners of the 750 properties which will have to be demolished, as well as those in close proximity to the new runway, there will be a generous compensation package which will pay them 25 per cent above the market value of their homes, with legal fees and stamp duty paid on the purchase of a new home. An insulation scheme will be offered to all householders who live with aircraft noise which exceeds 55 decibels. In all, £1 billion has been set aside for insulating local properties and compensating the community.
The efforts to improve the environment around Heathrow have not been lost on local residents, just over half of whom in neighbouring constituencies now support expansion plans, with a third against the plans. We hear a lot in the press about groups who oppose the plans, but rather less about the 100,000 supporters of Back Heathrow, a campaign group which has shattered the idea that locals will always react negatively when a large infrastructure project is planned for their neighbourhood. Local residents, after all, are not just residents; many are workers at the airport and are frequent travellers, too, and appreciate having a world class airport on their doorstep, and one which with a third runway could offer an additional 40 destinations.
It is three months since Sit Howard Davies’ commission on airport expansion published its final report, coming down strongly in favour of a third Heathrow runway – with a few conditions attached. Competitor airports in mainland Europe are adding flights and destinations by the week. The consultations cannot go on indefinitely. It is time for a decision to be made.
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