Messages to MPs before airport expansion ruling

It is a regrettable fact councils are so cash strapped the Royal Borough is only one of a few which has challenged Heathrow's costly never ending publicity and tripe about an enlarged airport with 54 per cent more flights being quieter and less polluting than today's airport in anticipation of yet to be discovered new technology.

It has recently been acknowledged the latest A380 super jumbo departure flights are noisier and lower because they climb slowly to reduce engine wear and fuel usage.

Even worse is no other councils are known to have opposed the Airports Commission's confused dismissal of the immense housing and infrastructure needs of the hugely increased workforce to handle far larger aircraft and potentially twice as many passengers and the ever increasing business activity.

This is because none have enough planning officers to address the problems, some think it would make their area more prosperous, and some even seem to believe the airport's ridiculous scare story it would have to close if it could not expand.

The Commission first said up to 70,400 more houses and 24 new schools would be needed for the additional employees with 5,000 more houses in each of 14 council areas including RBWM, but finally offered the ridiculous conclusion that no extra houses would be needed as 100,000 unemployed in West London could fill the additional jobs. They would presumably include flying and maintaining complex aircraft and running the international businesses on which the economic case is based.

Heathrow's promise of providing 10,000 apprenticeships and reducing road congestion with 60 per cent of its staff and passengers using public transport is just as ridiculous as it only completed 93 apprenticeships last year and has never reached a 40 per cent targeted use of public transport of a far smaller number of people. 

After Cllr Derek Wilson, the RBWM lead member for planning, agreed at a council meeting to my suggestion he and I shared our knowledge of aviation and planning matters to write a letter  to the minister for housing and planning, I prepared a detailed draft which Cllr Wilson edited and emailed to the minister, the previous prime minister and a few others. As no officers were available to email to other MPs and councils, Cllr Wilson and the new leader of the council accepted my offer to do so. They also agreed to get a press release about the cross party work on the letter but as this has not happened I have copied the letter to the press.

The letter draws MPs attention to the fact that the entire area is already far too congested to find land for more housing, schools, offices, road improvements and other needs of far more employees and twice as many users of Heathrow.  

RBWM is already finding it enormously difficult to try to find land for over 12,000 more dwellings over the next 15 years, so over 17,000 would be impossible. 

The fact already high property and land values would go into orbit and would increase the cost of living for everyone has not been factored into the claims about the high economic benefit forecasts for both the local and national economies. 

The contention Heathrow must expand to maintain its status as the largest international hub in Europe is not supported by the facts.

There is unused capacity as the average seat use is only 76 per cent because passengers have the luxury of a huge choice of flights as the airlines stifle competition by retaining 'grandfather' rights on flight slots and fly 26 daily flights to both Paris and New York, while eight less profitable hub flights to the regions have been discontinued in the past year.

The claimed economic benefit of increased tourist and export capacity fails to mention outgoing holiday traffic and imports currently result in a huge overall deficit in UK currency – and any increase in activity would make matters worse.

The proud claim freight traffic would double would exacerbate traffic congestion and pollution as all of Heathrow's freight cargo is moved over our already inadequate roads – and roadside parking of huge trucks would increase as it  is already too expensive for hauliers to provide parking facilities. 

I close by noting Government should be reminded its Competition Commission forced BAA to sell Gatwick, Stansted and other airports to break its monopoly.

That would be reinstated if it were allowed to have three runways, and its sudden growth in capacity would seriously threaten the viability of the one-runway airports in the South-east.

Please pass these messages on to as many ministers and MPs as you can before they finalise their decision.

Cllr Malcolm Beer

Orchard Road

Old Windsor