Runway decision lands in 14 weeks

2:19pm Friday 23rd November 2007

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Hounslow's leader warned there are just 14 weeks to save the borough ahead of the Government's long-awaited launch of its consultation on plans to expand Heathrow Airport.

Yesterday Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly announced the start of the consultation and released a study which said that a new shorter third runway and a sixth terminal could be built at the west London airport without breaching noise and pollution limits.

Leader of Hounslow Council, Councillor Peter Thompson, marked the beginning of the consultation by announcing that the Department for Tranpsort proposals to expand Heathrow are "the biggest threat that Hounslow has ever faced".

He said: "We now have 14 weeks of public consultation to make our case and try to save the borough from further expansion at Heathrow."

The three-month long consultation will seek public support for a third runway and for a mixed mode landing schedule, which would increase the use of the airport's two existing runways.

At present planes switch runways at 3pm every day to give flight path residents half a day's rest from air noise.

The number of flights could jump by 80,000 per year if this practice ended.

A third runway would boost the capacity to 720,000 flights per year, compared with 473,000 last year.

With mixed mode and a third runway the number of flights could reach 800,000 a year.

Anti-expansion campaigners say that any more expansion at Heathrow would lead to breaching EU air pollution limits.

John Stewart, chairman of the action group Hacan, said the consultation will bring together the biggest coalition against airport expansion in UK history.

"Never before has such any government faced such opposition to its plans to expand an airport," he said.

"For environmentalists across the country Heathrow has become the symbol in the fight against climate change."

However pro-expansion group Future Heathrow says the lack of runway capacity is at the heart of most flight delays at the airport and its director pointed to a Government document which says Heathrow is losing out to other European airports because of this.

Future Heathrow campaign director Lord Soley said: "The introduction of mixed mode operations at Heathrow could cut delays at a stroke and would be good news for passengers and the environment. A third runway would add desperately needed capacity."

Hounslow Council is encouraging residents to respond to the consultation using information on its website.