Heathrow Airport third runway plans revealed
Heathrow Airport third runway plans revealed today!
Plans for the third runway at Heathrow Airport are to be published today (2nd February 2017) as the Government begins a four-month public consultation on its decision to expand Britain’s biggest airport.
We scheduled a return flight to this hot topic back in November with our very popular article on The Heathrow Expansion click here.
The government decided to expand Heathrow Airport rather than Gatwick, more than a year after the Airports Commission endorsed the third runway proposal and six years after the coalition government scrapped the idea.
We at Urbanissta are on the planning runway once more and ready to take off!
Here’s the latest Heathrow Expansion update…
- The transport secretary, Chris Grayling, is expected to announce the launch as a sign that Britain will be open for business after Brexit!
“Aviation expansion is important for the UK both in boosting our economy and jobs and promoting us on the world stage. Leaving the EU is a new chapter for Britain and provides us with a great opportunity to forge a new role in the world.”
- The first step in enacting the decision about the third runway is putting in place the conditions for planning consent which will be outlined in a national policy statement. MPs will have to vote on the statement for it to become law. Chris Grayling said: “We are determined to seize that opportunity and having the right infrastructure in place will allow us to build a more global Britain. By backing the north-west runway atHeathrow airport and publishing our proposals, we are sending a clear signal that when we leave the EU, we are open for business.”
- There will be pledges and conditions for the expansion including more domestic routes, noise mitigation for local homes and schools, legally binding targets on noise, and a ban of six and a half hours on scheduled night flights
- The airport must also implement measures to ensure road traffic to the airport does not grow, and will be obliged to compensate homeowners at a rate of 25% above market value plus costs for any compulsory purchases needed. About 900 homes are expected to be demolished, including much of the village of Harmondsworth
- The consultation will run across the UK, including communities that may be directly affected and people who could benefit from connections. Following the consultation and parliamentary scrutiny, the finalised statement is expected to go to a vote in around a year’s time
- The government said the runway, which it claims will be worth £61bn to the economy over 60 years and will create tens of thousands of jobs, will only go ahead if it can be delivered within existing air quality limits and climate change obligations. John Stewart, chair of the Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise, a local anti-expansion campaign, said: “The government will argue that a new runway is particularly important in a post-Brexit world but the stark fact remains that a third runway will mean almost a quarter of a million extra planes using Heathrow each year. That will turn countless lives upside down.”
- A separate consultation on changes to airspace, potentially bringing new communities under flight paths, is also being launched
Once all is revealed we will refuel and return to this topic, watch this space!
For a more in depth look at The Heathrow Expansion, read more here.
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