"We must stop trying to fit a quart into a pint pot and look east" writes AM Richard Tracey

Sir,

This week has seen the release of two major submissions to the Davies Commission on Airport Expansion. Howard Davies will ultimately have to choose between expanding Heathrow Airport or creating a new hub airport to the east of London. Britain is a trading nation and requires a globally competitive hub airport and Heathrow cannot be that airport. Putney residents who already suffer from the excessive noise and air pollution wrought by Heathrow must not be asked to endure any more.

We must stop trying to fit a quart into a pint pot and look east. On Monday the Mayor and Transport for London laid out three options for building a new four-runway, hub airport. There are advantages to each of the three schemes but, whether the Davies Commission chooses an expanded Stansted, an airport on the Isle of Grain or an island airport in the Thames Estuary, those who oppose Heathrow expansion should unite in favour of a viable alternative or they are playing into Heathrow’s hands.

Richard Tracey,
London Assembly Member for Wandsworth and Merton
& GLA Conservatives Transport spokesman

July 19, 2013