Warning Government "Heathrow expansion still the wrong decision"

Wandsworth Council has warned the Government that expanding Heathrow is still the wrong decision for London and would be met with staunch opposition.

Sir Howard Davis airports commission is due to publish a shortlist of options for increasing aviation capacity next week (Tuesday). National newspapers claim the report will favour new runways at Heathrow.

Wandsworth and its 2M Group partners defeated the previous Government’s plans for a third runway in the High Court in 2010 on environmental grounds. Nothing has changed since then to make the impacts of expansion any less severe.

Ravi Govindia, Leader of Wandsworth Council and 2M spokesman, said:
“Expanding Heathrow was not viable in 2010 and it’s not viable today. The environmental and noise impacts are far too severe. Nothing can change the fact that the airport is in the wrong place and any new runways would do the maximum damage to quality of life in London.”

Wandsworth has released ‘noise maps’ plotting the new flightpaths an expanded Heathrow would create.

The map shows parts of Roehampton, West Putney, West Hill, East Putney, Southfields, Earlsfield, Wandsworth Common, Northcote, Nightingale, Tooting, Balham, Bedford, Graveney and Furzedown wards could be disrupted by aircraft coming into land on a new runway to the south of the existing landing strips.

Clapham Common, Tooting Common, Wandsworth Common, King George's Park, Putney Heath and Richmond Park would all be affected by this same arriDecember 12, 2013ould be worst hit, as planes would get progressively lower over peoples' homes and gardens as they approach the airport.

People living under the existing flightpaths in Putney and Battersea are kept awake from 4.30am as the first arrivals approach Heathrow.

Arrivals map	Departures map

The new 'flightpath maps' show a four runway Heathrow would blight the majority of central, west and south London with noise pollution. North Surrey, east Berkshire and south Buckinghamshire would also be under the new flightpaths. Hyde Park, Regents Park , St James Park and Kensington Gardens would be directly affected by the arrival flightpath for runway 3.
The noise from planes landing and taking off from all four runways would impact the homes of around three million people.

The maps show areas of London and the south of England which could be affected by aircraft noise from a four runway Heathrow. The areas with darker shading could experience a more severe level of noise disruption from arriving and departing flights.

December 12, 2013