Briefing from the No 3rd Runway Coalition on the Heathrow consultations

Heathrow has a current consultation, on its runway plans, which closes on 28th March. People are advised, if they send in a response, to make sure their submission is not taken as tacit agreement with the 3rd runway. The No 3rd Runway Coalition has put together a 2 page briefing, advising people about the many areas in which the consultation is inadequate, and suggesting a list of issues that remain unaddressed by Heathrow. Just some of the issues where the consultation fails are: – No clarity on plans for road and rail access and no commitment to pay for them. – No assessment of cost of moving the M25 nor a traffic impact assessment whilst construction takes place. – No assessment of the impact of construction of local air quality. – No assessment of impact on assets of national importance (parks and open spaces) from potentially being overflown for 12-hour periods with no respite from noise.  On questions people should ask, just some are:  – Why does the current Heathrow consultation on expansion include proposals for a shorter runway that have not been considered by the Airports Commission nor included in the Airports NPS?  – What assessment has been made of the financial cost of the proposals to move the M25 or put it into a tunnel? – What assessment has been made of the impact on local roads of a potential 50% increase in the level of freight handled by Heathrow?  And there are many more. See the full briefing here
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Briefing on the consultation

CONTEXT

Heathrow Airport launched a consultation on 17 January, running until 28 March. This is
separate from the Government’s consultation on the Draft Airports National Policy
Statement which is still ongoing.

The Transport Select Committee is currently running an inquiry into the Draft NPS and is
expected to submit a report to Government by the 29 March.

The final Airports NPS is expected to be put to a vote in the House of Commons by the
end of July 2018. It is only then that Heathrow Expansion will be formally considered by
Parliament.

OVERVIEW

This consultation is formed of two separate components. One consultation is on the
options of the physical changes on the ground needed to build a new north west runway
and operate an expanded airport. The second is on the potential principles Heathrow
could apply when designing the new airspace required for an expanded airport. This
does not include any detail on actual flightpaths.

MAIN AREAS OF CONCERN – EXPANSION CONSULTATION

It is clear from the series of consultation documents that the impacts of the expansion
proposal go far beyond that described and assessed in the Airports NPS.

Should Heathrow proceed with a shorter runway this would invalidate the Appraisal of
Sustainability in the NPS and require a fresh round of parliamentary scrutiny.

The consultation includes a number of glaring omissions of the local impacts:

  • No clarity on plans for road and rail access and no commitment to pay for them.
  • No assessment of cost of moving the M25 nor a traffic impact assessment whilst
    construction takes place.
  • No assessment of the impact of construction of local air quality.
  • No assessment of impact on assets of national importance (parks and open spaces)
    from potentially being overflown for 12-hour periods with no respite from noise.
  • No information or views sought on the impact on demand for housing in the local
    areas.
  • No assessment of cost to local authorities of increased demand on services.
  • No plan to cover the costs that will be imposed on local authorities arising from the
    relocation of the Lakeside Waste Energy plant.
  • No plans at all to address the adverse health impacts of a third runway.
  • No assessment of the impact of freight traffic associated with expansion.
    No information on possible flight paths of a three-runway airport.
  • No detail of areas that may be newly overflown.
  • No proposal for continued respite for communities.

QUESTIONS TO ASK HEATHROW

  • Why does the current Heathrow consultation on expansion include proposals for a
    shorter runway that have not been considered by the Airports Commission nor
    included in the Airports NPS?
  • What assessment has been made of the financial cost of the proposals to move the
    M25 or put it into a tunnel?
  • What traffic impact assessment has been undertaken for the effects on strategic and
    local roads of moving the M25?
  • What assessment has been made of the impact on local roads of a potential 50%
    increase in the level of freight handled by Heathrow?
  • What increase in surface access capacity will be required to facilitate a third
    runway?
  • What rail improvements do Heathrow believe are required to support expansion given
    that Crossrail and the Piccadilly Line upgrade have been designed to support
    London’s population growth?
  • What plans do Heathrow have to introduce a road user charge around the airport?
  • Why have detailed flight paths for a third runway not been published?
  • What assessment has been made of impacts to residents during the construction of
    the runway?
  • What guarantees of respite are being offered to communities currently overflown?
    How many communities will be newly impacted by noise from airport operations with
    a third runway?
  • How will Heathrow finance the third runway?

FLIGHT PATH DESIGN PRINCIPLES

The operation of Heathrow airport currently exposes hundreds of thousands of people
to the intolerable, detrimental impacts of aircraft noise. Any expansion will simply
expose thousands more to unacceptable levels of aircraft noise. The consultation
presents some of its airspace policy choices as zero sum and is simply seeking to divide
those opposed to expansion. The Coalition advises against engagement with this
consultation.

Send your views to Freepost LHR EXPANSION CONSULTATION or email
email expansion.feedback@heathrowconsultation.com


Briefing from the No 3rd Runway coalition:

https://www.no3rdrunwaycoalition.co.uk/

Email:    info@no3rdrunwaycoalition.co.uk


See the briefing, to download and print at

Consultation Briefing 120218

 

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