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Serious Delays for Heathrow 3rd Runway
20 October 2009
Edward Lister, Leader of Wandsworth Council and spokesperson for the 2M group of local authorities opposing the runway, welcomes this news. “With the support of other local councils, Wandsworth Council has been leading a legal campaign that attempts to prevent the third runway. Today’s news effectively ends the threat of a 3rd runway at Heathrow." He added, "Of course we have to keep up our work locally opposing the expansion of the airport, that presumption is entirely based on a Conservative victory at the next General Election, only a Conservative Government will see off the threat of this expansion".
Theresa Villiers, the shadow transport secretary commented on BAA's initial decision. “It seems BAA has woken up to the fact that we mean what we say on Heathrow and that if we win the general election there will be no third runway.”
MP for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields Justine Greening adds: “Local residents were against this, local Councils were against this, almost everyone except the Government and BAA were against this! This is a welcome and much deserved retreat for BAA, Labour Ministers must be wishing they had the sense not to try and force this through against the wishes of local residents. I want to thank all the residents in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields, indeed in all of Wandsworth who signed up to our campaign against the expansion. The collective weight of our campaign, along with Wandsworth Councils legal case, the clear leadership from Theresa and our Transport team on this as well as the work of many other groups has all but halted this development in its tracks”.
Jane Ellison, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Battersea also commented: “This is an important step and is certainly welcome news in Battersea, which already suffers noise and disturbance from Heathrow and was under threat of even more unwanted aircraft traffic. However, before we relax we must remember that BAA’s decision only makes it more imperative that we have a General Election soon and get a Conservative Government"
London Assembly Member Richard Tracey added: "This comes days after the chief executive of British Airways said that if a third runway is not built the airline will axe many domestic and European flights, great! Instead, many short haul and domestic flights should make way for a new high-speed rail link, which mean my constituents are spared the thousands of extra flights, with all the associated pollution that would bring, that this unwanted third runway would have brought."
