Around 90% of Hounslow’s residents are opposed to any further expansion at Heathrow.
These are the council’s top ten reasons for saying NO to expansion on behalf of those residents:
1. More planes
The government’s proposals could double the airport’s capacity in a decade allowing Heathrow to handle 151 million passengers and 800,000 flights every year.
2. More noise
More planes means more noise. The government’s own research shows that more than 2 million people will be affected by noise from Heathrow.
3. More pollution
More planes means more pollution. Heathrow’s contribution to climate change through CO2 emissions will increase and an additional 21,000 people will be exposed to dangerous levels of nitrogen dioxide.
4. No more quiet periods
Scrapping runway alternation and replacing it with mixed mode will mean no more quiet periods for people living, working and being educated in Hounslow.
5. Noisier schools
Research shows that aircraft noise effects children’s education and yet the government and BAA are refusing to meet the full cost of protecting Hounslow’s schoolchildren from that noise.
6. Noisier nights
The government has promised not to increase night flights at Heathrow until 2012 but if expansion goes ahead we expect the industry to push for more night flights on all three runways.
7. Poorer health
The World Health Organisation stresses the importance of understanding the health impacts that airport noise and pollution have on local communities but the government has repeatedly refused to look into this issue.
8. False economy
The government’s economic arguments on the economy don’t add up. We say make Heathrow better not bigger.
9. Unsustainable development
Heathrow has already reached the limits of its sustainable development. We don’t have the roads, houses, schools or social infrastructure to support any further expansion.
10. Concerns over safety
Allowing an additional 320,000 planes a year to fly in Europe’s most congested airspace raises some very serious questions about safety.
