Letter sent by ChATR (Chiswick) to all new Cabinet members on Tory backing for 3rd runway

ChATR, Chiswick Against the Third Runway, have written to all the new Cabinet ministers since the election, to express their grave concern at the Conservative manifesto promise to build a Third Runway at Heathrow – and to urge them not to support these proposals. They ask: “How can this government lend support to a development that knowingly harms public health? There is a weight of evidence against the Third Runway showing the adverse effects of noise, pollution and sleep deprivation. It seems utterly bizarre to us that this government has endorsed a scheme that benefits foreign shareholders at the expense of millions of Londoners who will suffer these very serious and well documented health consequences.” … They say:  “Poorer communities nearer the airport and working families under new & existing flight paths, trapped by debt, mortgages, stamp duty costs or other reasons will suffer the most. It seems quite wrong that the inequalities and injustices of airport expansion, which have been repeatedly raised by the affected communities, are being simply brushed aside for an, as yet unproven, marginal economic gain.”  And the DfT now acknowledge that the economic benefit (without including the carbon costs) of Heathrow is only about £6-7 billion over 60 years. Read the whole letter.
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Letter sent to all new Cabinet members after the June 2017 election:

Dear ……

The People Against Heathrow Expansion

We are writing on behalf of Chiswick Against the Third Runway (ChATR) to express our grave concern at the Conservative manifesto promise to build a Third Runway at Heathrow and urge you not to support these proposals.

How can this government lend support to a development that knowingly harms public health? There is a weight of evidence against the Third Runway showing the adverse effects of noise, pollution and sleep deprivation. It seems utterly bizarre to us that this government has endorsed a scheme that benefits foreign shareholders at the expense of millions of Londoners who will suffer these very serious and well documented health consequences.

It is worrying in the extreme that these health dis-benefits have not been properly costed in assessing the pros and cons of expansion at Heathrow and worse still, that DfT
documentation and the Davies Commission actively suppressed figures that show the true extent of the harm caused by Heathrow expansion.

Poorer communities nearer the airport and working families under new & existing flight paths, trapped by debt, mortgages, stamp duty costs or other reasons will suffer the most. It seems quite wrong that the inequalities and injustices of airport expansion, which have been repeatedly raised by the affected communities, are being simply brushed aside for an, as yet unproven, marginal economic gain.

As you know, £89 billion of projected benefit has been wiped off the Davies Commission estimates by the DfT who now acknowledge that the economic benefit (without including the carbon costs) of Heathrow over Gatwick is only c. £6-7 billion over 60 years.

This has to be set against the known harm that expansion at Heathrow will cause millions of Londoners. It has been repeatedly claimed that the regions will benefit by Heathrow expansion over any other airport, but there is considerable evidence that regional airports will have to reduce their flights as Heathrow expands and companies such as Flybe & Ryanair do not wish to operate out of Heathrow because it is too expensive.

There is no doubt from the responses in our community that Labour gains in London in the recent election reflect, amongst other things, Londoners’ deep opposition to Heathrow expansion. These concerns have been voiced for many years and yet promises have been repeatedly overturned by politicians so that communities have to keep fighting to be heard over the noise of the juggernaut of Heathrow’s PR machine.

But why are the politicians listening to Heathrow and not ordinary working Londoners?

We know that this Tory government is not listening to us. Even as the DfT ‘consultation’ was underway (in which supposedly local communities were being consulted) the Tory manifesto was published stating that Heathrow expansion would go ahead. What kind of ‘consultation’ is this? Is this Government listening to communities like ours at all?

The science showing the health costs of having planes overhead, the disingenuous measurements of noise and noise contours in the DfT’s proposals, the safety issues that have been buried by the Davies Commission and DfT alike: all this is detailed in our response to the DfT Consultation (copy attached – to the Cabinet members – 9 pages).

This is a heartfelt plea and again we urge you not to support this disastrous scheme to build a runway right in the middle of the West London suburbs.

We look forward to hearing from you.

With kind regards
Yours sincerely

ChATR  – Chiswick Against the Third Runway