Heathrow rebel alliance is cleared for take-off
An odd band of environmentalists, Tories and local residents are finding novel
ways to oppose the third runway
ways to oppose the third runway
swollen with travellers shuffling around in the check-in area. A clue to what
was up was the number of people staring guiltily at the ceiling, of eyes meeting
darting eyes, and an atmosphere prickling with a sense of expectation.
thrown into the air. A Japanese couple looked on bemused as the terminal erupted
around them. Small balloons, bouncy balls and items of clothing were flung upwards
as the crowd roared: "No third runway!"
week after months of procrastination, but this "flash mob" of about 400 protesters,
organised via social networking sites, showed that the fight was far from over.
London. "How dare the government tell us to change all our lightbulbs and then
do something like this?"
opponents there was a tangible sense of relief after so many months of ministerial
dither and delay. "Now, at last, we’ve actually got something to fight against,"
said one.
his statement was peppered with environmental concessions, but the figures told
their own story. By 2030, total flights will have risen by about 220,000 a year
to 700,000. There will be a corresponding rise in greenhouse emissions, with
the airport predicted by one lobby group {WDM] to emit more carbon dioxide than
Kenya.
a campaign that will be waged by a hotchpotch but effective army, from the front
bench of the Tory opposition, to long-suffering families living under flight paths
in west London and Greenpeace’s direct action demonstrators.
Heathrow expansion, said: "There’s going to be a lot of direct action from a
lot of very unusual characters. This is not your typical coalition of activists.
It’s going to be very embarrassing for the government."
more than 2,000 people, carried out after the decision to go ahead with the third
runway was announced, shows only 29% support it, with 42% opposed. The rest of those in the sample are undecided.
proposed runway and dividing it into more than 20,000 lots. Buyers include the
actress Emma Thompson, MPs and an Inuit purchaser who is said to live "somewhere
in the Arctic". The compulsory purchase process could become long and involved.
its streamlined process for approving major projects could see it ready by 2015.
But with the Tories opposed, and some dissenters even within the cabinet, what
are the prospects of the third runway getting off the drawing board?
business community, was quick to congratulate the government on the Heathrow decision.
"This opens the door to Heathrow becoming a truly world-class hub airport, and
to the UK maintaining the direct connections to the rest of the world on which
our prosperity depends," he said. The Institute of Directors said the runway
would be "vital to maintaining the UK’s economic competitiveness".
an increasing irritation, there was little to celebrate. Civil Aviation Authority
(CAA) documents show the proposed landing path for the third runway slicing across swathes of Kensington, Hammersmith
and Chiswick.
as many as 260 aircraft coming in to land every day. Thousands of homes will be affected. BAA has also predicted an increase of as
much as 30% in night flights, from 11pm to 7am.
an osteopath who lives in Chiswick, is so concerned for the welfare of her baby
and her two-year-old, she is considering moving home. "I’ve lived under a flight
path before, and I’m not prepared to put up
against it, and yet the government has refused to listen to us. What was the
point of consulting us if they were just going to do it anyway? Makes you wonder:
what will they listen to?" Officials at the Department for Transport (DfT) try
to assuage angry residents with assurances that the noise footprint of Heathrow
will diminish by 2030, thanks to quieter planes.
to be in the "57 decibel contour" within which noise is considered a significant
irritation when averaged out over a 16-hour day.
by using optimistic projections and rejecting findings likely to undermine their
case. Campaigners also point out that 80% of aircraft predicted for 2030 are
not yet in service and in some cases not even in production. They say there is
no guarantee they will ever be built.
it commissioned showing that residents can be perturbed by average noise levels
at just 50 decibels. At these levels, west London suburbs and swathes of land
to the north that are under new take-off paths would be affected by annoying and
increased levels of noise. Ministers rejected the findings, rather than calculate
the impact of the third runway using a lower noise threshold.
have skewed the figures and, whatever they say, many more people across London
are going to have to put up with more planes and more noise. To suggest otherwise
is spurious."
facts. As The Sunday Times reported last year documents released under freedom
of information laws show that the DfT and BAA collaborated to manipulate the figures
for the environmental targets until they got the results they wanted. They denied
wrongdoing and said it was a necessary part of the process.
third runway while still hitting its target of reducing UK carbon emissions by
80% by 2050. John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace, said the claim of
environmentally friendly airport expansion was "greenwash". He said: "It will
make meeting our targets almost impossible.
of the proposals for at least some Labour MPs.
the two existing Heathrow runways would be used for take-offs and landings at
the same time — was dropped. Mixed mode would have meant continuous noise from
aircraft across large parts of London and had been bitterly opposed by local councils
and residents.
if the aviation industry could prove it was cutting emissions. Only planes with
the latest engine technology would be able to use the extra slots for the runway.
The Civil Aviation Authority and the Environment Agency would be able to block
the opening of the runway if it breached noise and pollution limits. He also
announced plans for a high-speed London-Birmingham rail link via Heathrow.
MPs and two key cabinet figures, Hilary Benn, the environment secretary, and Ed
Miliband, the climate change secretary.
"Geoff first offered to link Heathrow to a new high-speed rail line. But Ed and
Hilary pointed out that he had already announced that one. Then he talked about
money for electric car technology and it was pointed out that this money had already
been announced."
Tuesday evening. The concession that the third runway would initially operate
at only half capacity was also added late in the day, as was a clause that the
independent Committee on Climate Change, headed by Lord Adair Turner, would monitor aviation’s carbon emissions.
never going to kill the third runway, but felt they had done just enough to maintain
some credibility with the greens.
diminished because the government’s concessions mean it has a greater chance of
hitting the environmental targets.
tomorrow. They will be poring over the DfT documents supporting Hoon’s statement to
assess the merits of a case.
groups such as Greenpeace and Plane Stupid will focus much of their energies on
direct action. Residents in homes earmarked for the bulldozers on the site of
the third runway are already being briefed on how to resist the authorities.
and help their owners with household chores, while pledging to put themselves
in front of the bulldozers if they came. Others are encouraging residents to
divide their gardens into small parcels to sell off to activists in order further
to frustrate the compulsory purchase process.
be destroyed by the Heathrow expansion, said she was ready to join. "I’m not
only willing to get arrested; I’m intending to," she said. "I have never been
in trouble with the law before but what have I got to lose now?"
it is taken was underlined by Hoon’s criticism yesterday of Thompson, when he
contrasted her opposition to the Heathrow expansion on environmental grounds and
the frequency of the flights she took to Hollywood. However, it is highly unlikely
to derail the planning process.
the relatively low risk of successful legal action: a new Conservative government.
a Tory government would stop "this environmental disaster" if elected at a poll
that must be held in the next 18 months. Boris Johnson, the London mayor, is
calling for a runway in the Thames estuary and has appointed Douglas Oakervee,
the leading British engineer behind Hong Kong’s island airport, to investigate
the idea. An all-party parliamentary group has also been formed to look into
it.
Conservative party might seem a strange one. But if the Conservatives remain resolute
in their opposition to the third runway, they represent the best chance of finally
quashing the plans.
Now represents 4m. Backed by the London mayor, it is at the forefront of efforts
to take legal action against the government.
is dedicated to peaceful direct action. Headed by Tamsin Omond, who has become
a poster girl for the antiaviation movement. Has "fluffier" tactics than Plane
Stupid: it held an Edwardian picnic at Heathrow last week.
by throwing bricks at the entrance to the Department for Transport in London.
political insider.
long-time leader of the local residents’ group.
residents of Sipson, who will lose their homes.
multi-millionaire head of Lush, a global cosmetics chain, and individuals sympathetic
to the green movement. Cut through the perimeter fence at Stansted airport in
Essex last month