Ascot Racecourse hosts public consultation over possible runway expansion at Heathrow Airport

Heathrow Airport embarked on its latest public consultation by hosting a drop-in event at Ascot Racecourse.

Over the next 10 weeks representatives from the airport will be staging more than 30 consultations across the South-east detailing its plans for a third runway.

The government has signalled its commitment to expanding the airport’s capacity but the green light will need to be given by the House of Commons when it votes on the national policy statement on aviation later this year.

On Wednesday Ascot residents got a glimpse of the plans for a new North-west runway, which could cross the M25 between Junctions 14 and 15.

Heathrow wants to build a tunnel below the new runway and reposition the M25 carriageway 150m to the west to accommodate the expansion.

It has also pledged to ensure that by 2030, 50 per cent of passengers arriving to the airport will use public transport.

Ascot resident Margaret Morgan said: “From Ascot we have no public transport that will get us directly to the airport.

“If it’s going to take me an over an hour to get there by public transport then I will still go by car.

“Air pollution is still going to be an issue.”

She added that Ascot and the surrounding areas did not have the infrastructure or housing to cope with expansion.

Chris Parnell, a former planning superintendent at Heathrow Airport, told the Express that the government needed to stop kicking a decision over airport expansion ‘into the long grass’.

The 72-year-old, who now lives in Ascot, said: “Heathrow has been there since the 1940s and for me an expansion is well overdue.

“It can’t be safe continuing to operate at close to full capacity.”

A further consultation event is taking place at the Windsor Youth and Community Centre in Alma Road on Friday