|
Ealing Times
Article
February
2008
Stop Heathrow
Expansion
The time for
local people to make their views known to the government about
proposals to expand Heathrow Airport with a third runway and sixth
terminal is running out. The consultation ends on 27th
February 2008. I am opposing these proposals and encourage as many
of you to tell the government you are also against them through the
consultation.
The plans will
cost as much as £9bn, increase flights from 480,000 to over 700,000
a year, create 4.5 million extra tube journeys, an extra 4 million
train passengers, and 25 million extra car trips to Heathrow making
our part of West London even more congested and polluted than ever.
They will also result in the destruction of over 750 homes
including the entire village of Sipson.
The number of
schools around the airport where children would experience noise of
about 63 decibels – designated as a nuisance – would rise from 14
to 20. One such school is Featherstone Primary in Southall, where
if the third runway is built, planes will fly over every 90 seconds
causing such a noise that teaching and learning will become
virtually impossible.
The new flight landing path will
fly over the southern parts of Ealing and Southall causing noise
nuisance for the first time for hundreds of my constituents and the
proposed departure flight path will do the same flying over
Southall, Greenford and Northolt. The new runway is planned to be
operating by 2020 but in the interim the government supports the
use of the existing two runways for both take-offs and landings.
This will mean a new easterly flight path over Boston Manor,
Gunnersbury and Acton causing yet more noise for more of my
constituents.
This is all
without factoring into the equation the contribution this expansion
and the increased flights will have on carbon emissions and global
warming. Figures show that unless something is done the UK’s
ever-expanding aviation industry will be using all of Britain’s
permitted carbon emissions by 2037. Global warming has to be
stopped and a halt to Heathrow expansion would be a good place to
start.
You can respond
to the consultation online at www.dft.gov.uk/heathrowconsultation
or
by calling 0845 6004170
Virendra Sharma
MP
Ealing
Southall
| 
Stop Heathrow Expansion
