Heathrow unveils expansion masterplan
A 12-week consultation starts today on expansion plans at Heathrow Airport, including a new runway.
Running until September 13, the public will be able to have their say on planned development and on how the airport intends to manage the environmental impacts.
The controversial plans involve demolishing nearly 800 homes, including the entire village of Longford, diverting rivers and moving roads, including the M25 which would run through a tunnel under the new runway.
It also includes property compensation, noise insulation, and a community fund.
Its Airport Expansion Consultation reveals plans for growth in phases, with the new runway opening around 2026 and the whole project completing by around 2050.
Heathrow says this incremental growth will mirror the forecasted growth in passengers and help airport charges remain close to 2016 levels.
Responses to this consultation will inform Heathrow’s application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) – the planning consent required for the project – which is expected to be submitted to the Secretary of State for Transport next year.
Information will be available on a website with videos to help explain the plans and an online feedback form.
Hard copy consultation documents will be available to view in 42 different locations across local communities.
Emma Gilthorpe, Heathrow’s executive director for expansion, said: "Expansion must not come at any cost. That is why we have been working with partners at the airport, in local communities and in Government to ensure our plans show how we can grow sustainably and responsibly – with environmental considerations at the heart of expansion.
"This consultation is an opportunity for people to have their say on our preferred masterplan, so it’s really important that as many people as possible take part. We look forward to hearing your views."
Campaign groups opposed to the expansion plans said this was the most important consultation to date.
Jackie Clark, chair of Stop Heathrow Expansion, said: "We will continue working with a group of local authorities, the Mayor of London and others taking legal action against a third runway and remain confident that at the next stage of the process we will successfully stop these disastrous proprosals for our community from ever taking off at the planning stage in the process."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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