3 arrests after Plane Stupid block Heathrow tunnel for 3 hours using a van + activists locked onto it
The main road entrance tunnel to Heathrow’s Terminals 1 and 2 was blocked by climate change activists from Plane Stupid, for about 3 hours, from 7.40 this morning. Three activists parked a vehicle across both lanes of the entrance tunnel and locked themselves to it, unfurling a banner quoting David Cameron’s election promise in 2010: “No Ifs, No Buts: No Third Runway”. Three people were arrested, and the tunnel was finally cleared. Some travellers may have been delayed or could have missed flights. Local resident Neil Keveren, a builder from Harmondsworth, whose house would be bulldozed for the 3rd runway, was fined after blocking the same tunnel with his van for half an hour on 2nd July, the day after the Airports Commission announcement. Neil said: “No one wants to do this. They feel they have to. People feel they have no choice. After we campaigned for years, David Cameron was elected promising ‘no ifs, no buts: no third runway’. …. We have tried every other option. We have been forced to be disobedient just to be heard. To save our homes and our planet.” There is already airport capacity for families taking a couple of trips per year, or wealthy foreign visitors to the UK, but a new runway would be for the most wealthy to take multiple leisure trips each year. Plane Stupid apologised for causing inconvenience, but believe the strong arguments against a Heathrow runway must be heard.
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Heathrow protest: Five arrested as Plane Stupid climate change demonstrators block road tunnel at airport
Five people [it was 3 people] have been arrested after climate change protesters blocked the road tunnel leading into Heathrow Airport and locked themselves to a van.
The protest against a third runway blocked the road access into terminals 2 and 3 for three hours from just before 7.45am, causing traffic chaos for thousands of travellers.
Anti-airport campaign group Plane Stupid claimed responsibility after it confirmed three activists parked the van across the tunnel and chained themselves to it.
Scotland Yard said five people were arrested.
A Met Police spokesman said during the incident: “Officers are currently dealing with a protest near the inbound tunnel of Heathrow airport. They were called at 7:42am on Thursday, November 26.
A video showed a white van with a “No New Runways” sign blocking traffic.
A Heathrow spokesman said this morning: “We can confirm there is a protest taking place in the inbound tunnel which is currently affecting traffic around the central terminal area and terminals 2 and 3 at Heathrow.”
He added any decision to delay flights or push back check-in times would have to be made by the airlines.
Drivers said queues stretched all the way back to the M4.
A contraflow was put in place on the outbound section of the tunnel in an effort to clear traffic.
Highways England said traffic was heavy on the M4 westbound between junction 4 and 4a for Heathrow.
The protest came on the day Parliament discussed airport expansion after a recommendation was made to build a new runway at Heathrow. [The debate can be seen on Parliament TV starting at about 13.56 and ending at 17.00. It will be on Hansard shortly. ]
…. and it continues ….
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Plane Stupid blockade Heathrow entrance tunnel
26.11.2015 (Plane Stupid press release) – 8 am
The main road entrance to Heathrow airport has been blocked by climate change activists since 7.40 this morning.
Three members of anti-airport expansion campaign group Plane Stupid parked a vehicle across both lanes of the entrance tunnel and locked their bodies to it, unfurling a banner quoting David Cameron’s election promise: “No Ifs, No Buts: No Third Runway”. David Cameron has promised a decision by the end of the year on whether to build another runway at Heathrow.[Link]
Local resident Neil Keveren, a builder whose village, Harmondsworth, would be bulldozed for the third runway, arrived later at the tunnel. He was fined after blocking the same tunnel with his van on 2nd July. [Link]
He said, “No one wants to do this. They feel they have to. People feel they have no choice. After we campaigned for years, David Cameron was elected promising ‘no ifs, no buts: no third runway’.[Link]
“In 2010 the High Court ruled third runway plans “untenable in law and common sense” because they breached the Climate Change Act.[Link]
“Now Cameron might just build it anyway. We have tried every other option. We have been forced to be disobedient just to be heard. To save our homes and our planet.”
Plane Stupid spokesperson Cameron Kaye said, “Airport expansion would wreck the legally binding Climate Change Act,[1] risking wiping out 55% of species this century[2] and displacing 75 million more people from their homes by 2035.[3] if aviation growth isn’t reduced, by 2037 aviation alone could emit all of the carbon it’s safe for the UK to emit.[4] The government needs to choose: build new runways or stop climate chaos: it’s that simple.
“There is already airport capacity for families taking their yearly holiday. New runways only benefit the roughly 15% of flyers who take 70% of our flights,[5] cooking our planet. These are rich frequent leisure flyers. The most reliable predictors of frequent flyer status are a household income over £115,000 and owning a second home abroad,[6] but it’s the poorest people who suffer most from climate change.”
On 13th July Plane Stupid blocked Heathrow’s North runway, reportedly causing 22 flights to be cancelled and hundreds delayed.[Link]
Photos can be used freely from twitter.com/planestupid @planestupid
Plane Stupid press team: 07799360351 press@planestupid.com
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References:
[1] Aviation Environment Federation, 16 June 2015, ‘All set for take off? Aviation emissions to soar under Airports Commission proposals’, p.1, http://www.aef.org.uk/uploads/All-set-for-take-off-AEF-report.pdf
[2]Over 3.5 degrees, 40 to 70 per cent [average 55%] of all assessed species will be extinct. If no action is taken, this will happen by 2100.: IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007, 3.4 Risk of abrupt or irreversible changes, https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/syr/en/mains3-4.html If no action: 3.7 degree rise by 2100 if representative concentration pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) is followed. IPCC: Table SPM-2, in: Summary for Policymakers, in: IPCC AR5 WG1 2013, p. 21 http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/report/WG1AR5_SPM_FINAL.pdf
[3] Global Humanitarian Forum: Human Impact Report, 2009, http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/may/29/1, http://www.ghf-ge.org/human-impact-report.pdf
[4] Page 5 of Growth Scenarios for EU & UK Aviation: contradictions with climate policy, Summary of research by Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research for Friends of the Earth Trust, Drs Alice Bows, Paul Upham, Kevin Anderson, The University of Manchester, 16 April 2005, http://www.foe.co.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/aviation_tyndall_summary.pdf
[5]Table ATT0601, Public experience of and attitudes towards air travel, DfT Statistical release, July 2014. Analysis by afreeride.org (passenger survey data), https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335069/annex-a-tables.xls
[6] Air Transport Statistics, House of Commons Library Standard Note SN0370, p.9,http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN03760.pdf
Heathrow Tunnel Blocked By Protesters
Thursday 26th November 2015
Protesters have caused havoc at Heathrow by blocking the tunnel to the airport.
Plane Stupid Demonstrators are angry about plans to build a third runway at the airport.
Ian Stopher was at the front of the queue in the tunnel and took this video of the huge jam caused by the protest.
The tunnel is the main entrance to terminals 1, 2 and 3.
The Met Police are on the scene, but no arrests have been made at present.
A contraflow has been put in place in the northbound tunnel to get passengers to the airport, but traffic is stretching back along the trunk road to the M4.
…. with short video at
http://www.lbc.co.uk/heathrow-tunnel-blocked-by-runway-protesters-120433
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The last time the tunnel was blocked:
Protester whose Harmondsworth home would be destroyed by 3rd runway, blocks Heathrow tunnel for half an hour
A blockade of Heathrow’s road access tunnel to Terminals 2 and 3 brought traffic to a halt for more than half an hour at 12.45pm today. The protest follows yesterday’s announcement that the Airports Commission report recommends the building of 3rd runway at Heathrow. This would require the destruction of over 1,000 homes in Harmondsworth, Longford and Sipson with a further 3,000 homes made uninhabitable due to excessive noise and pollution. Neil Keveren, a Harmondsworth resident, used a large white van to block both lanes to incoming traffic. He then unfurled a banner that covered the side of his vehicle to face the stationary traffic saying, “Residents Against Expansion – No ifs, no buts, no third runway”. The banner refers to David Cameron’s pledge prior to the 2010 election. His entirely peaceful protest was only ever intended to last 20 minutes, to avoid disruption to the airport. His co-operation enabled the police to avoid an evacuation procedure that would have caused further disruption to traffic. Neil Keveren made it clear his action was a personal protest, and was not part of his role as Chair of the Stop Heathrow Expansion (SHE) campaign group. However, his action were supported by many local residents and the local MP, John McDonnell.
Full story at https://www.airportwatch.org.uk/2015/07/26823/