Enlarged Heathrow will blight life for thousands

Having recently moved to Maidenhead to distance ourselves from aircraft noise (our fourth move to do so) I am appalled at the plan to construct a third runway at Heathrow with such massive disturbance to the whole area.

I never cease to be amazed at the short-sightedness of our government planners in all spheres.

They should be thinking in terms of 50-60 years ahead instead of throwing money at enlarging Heathrow, so turning the whole area into a gridlocked folly.

Heathrow is a segregated mess and all the improvements scheduled will only exacerbate the situation.

We need a vast new integrated concept such as the Chinese have built at Hong Kong International Airport at a cost little more than all the millions and time wasted on interminable inquiries into the development of Terminal 5 (which had a foregone conclusion from the start) and doubtless more will be wasted on an inquiry about Terminal 6 and the destruction of the village of Sipson.

Then what – Terminal 7? The area around Heathrow is already saturated  and the infrastructure cannot support further development – apart from destroying the lifestyle of the many thousands who live within a 10-mile radius.

The Chinese chose an island site at Chek LapKok away from the city. Surely we must consider reclaiming land somewhere in the Thames estuary with the majority  of flight movements over the sea and a continuous loop monorail into London?

We owe this much to future generations. Any sanctuaries of wildlife could easily be relocated elsewhere.

DESMOND LAVERS
Belmont Park Avenue
Maidenhead