Bedford Park residents object to timing of public consultation on Heathrow expansion

Planes on the tarmac at Heathrow airport

Consultation expected to start end of June – the beginning of the summer holiday period

Residents who are likely to come under the flightpath for the proposed third runway at Heathrow are angry the public consultation period has been set for a time when it is likely to receive the least scrutiny.

Heathrow airport presented its plans for a third runway last August and said it could be ready to use within a decade.

READ ALSO: Heathrow submits ‘shovel-ready’ proposal for privately financed third runway within a decade

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has backed the expansion and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is reportedly prepared to do “whatever it takes” to get spades in the ground by 2030.

READ ALSO: Prime Minister prepared to do “whatever it takes” to get spades in the ground by 2030 for Heathrow third runway

The public consultation about it is expected to start at the end of June.

Bedford Park house – Photograph of the day by Marianne Mahaffey

Bedford Park; photograph Marianne Mahaffey

A ‘snub’ to the communities impacted

The Bedford Park Society has joined the No 3rd Runway Coalition in expressing concern this appears to have been planned for the period of the year when Parliament is not sitting and when the communities affected are most likely to be away on summer holidays, leaving little time for proper scrutiny of complex proposals.

The plans include a north-western runway up to 3,500m, and a brand-new terminal ‘T5X’, expanding Terminal 2, and three new satellite terminals.

Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye has likened it to building a “whole a new airport”.

The expansion will increase capacity by 50%, to serve up to 756,000 flights and 150m passengers each year.

Helen Jameson, Chair of The Bedford Park Society commented:

“A Third Runway at Heathrow will mean new flight paths directly over Bedford Park and north Chiswick, bringing noise and emissions’ pollution to our area.

“It is important that everyone affected takes the opportunity to express their views either by making their views known to their MP or by responding to formal consultations, even where these are highly complex.

“It is frustrating to learn that the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) [the Government’s title for its plan to expand Heathrow] consultation has been launched at very short notice by the Government during the extended summer holiday period”.

The Bedford Park Society supports the No 3rd Runway Coalition’s request to aviation minister Keir Mather seeking urgent clarifications about the proposed consultation process and timing.

No Third Runway Coalition 

“Consultations should facilitate scrutiny”

The No 3rd Runway Coalition says:

‘Given that almost a decade has passed since the previous consultation on Heathrow expansion took place and much of the information will be rendered out of date, this will feel like a snub at the very least, if not an outright attempt to avoid proper scrutiny of the proposals by the very communities that would be impacted most by the plans for a third runway’.

They point out the Cabinet Office’s own guidance on public consultations states:

“Consultations should facilitate scrutiny” and should “allow stakeholders sufficient time to provide a considered response and where the consultation spans all or part of a holiday period policy makers should consider what if any impact there may be and take appropriate mitigating action”.

Heathrow runway

No engagement yet from the Department of Transport

The Department for Transport published specific guidance in February on how it was planning to engage with stakeholders – including community groups – prior to the ANPS consultation. Yet community organisations representing those impacted have as yet had no engagement with the DfT.

There are many arguments against the expansion, not least the environmental impact.

“Increasing the airport’s capacity by 50% will clearly impact the UK’s ability to meet its climate change targets”, says Hammersmith & Chiswick MP Andy Slaughter, who has campaigned against it for many years.

READ ALSO: Heathrow expansion is not the answer – Andy Slaughter MP

Heathrow is not on target to meet the sustainability goals it has promised to achieve by 2030, even without expansion.

A recent report by the Heathrow watchdog, the Council for the Independent Scrutiny of Heathrow Airport, said the airport must demonstrate ‘a clearer and more credible pathway to achieving its sustainability goals, particularly as passenger growth and future expansion plans place increasing pressure on environmental targets’.

READ ALSO: Heathrow watchdog highlights increase in sleep disturbance from aircraft noise

The Mayor of London and west London politicians from all parties oppose Heathrow expansion, because of the noise and air pollution, additional traffic and the disruption it will cause for west London.

READ ALSO: West London MPs ask Government to reconsider Heathrow expansion in light of Hayes fire

READ ALSO: Ruth Cadbury MP reconfirms opposition to Heathrow expansion