Airport plans spark dispute

7:10am Saturday 7th January 2006

Campaigners have promised the 'mother of all battles' over Government plans to expand Heathrow.

This week it was revealed Gordon Brown was determined to overcome problems in order to build a third runway at the airport.

Plans to build the third runway were thought to have been frustrated by the threat of air pollution from the increased flights.

But the Government has indicated its determination to press ahead by launching a new study to identify solutions that would allow' the runway to be built.

It is thought to be under heavy pressure from the aviation industry and particularly from British Airways, to give the green light to the runway.

The move is likely to spark a massive battle from campaigners opposed to the move.

John Stewart, chair of pressure group HACAN ClearSkies, said: "There will be the mother of all battles if the government tries to expand Heathrow."

He explained residents have built up links with a variety of campaign groups, including the radical direct action movement Earth First!, as part of their campaign.

Direct Action training sessions for residents have been held, with more planned for this year.

Mr Stewart said: "For the last two years we have systematically built up alliances across the board in preparation for the inevitable battle that will take place if the government decides to expand Heathrow.

"It doesn't seem to realise the forces lining up against it: local residents, nearly all MPs and local authorities in west London and Berkshire, the London Mayor, environmental groups shocked at the implications for global warming and activists who want a showdown with the aviation industry.

"The actions in which HACAN members participated in 2005, such as blasting loud music into the home of retiring BA chief Rod Eddington at 5am on the morning of British Airway's AGM or jeering at delegates to an international aviation conference when they arrived for their gala dinner on Tower Bridge last month, were just a taster of what is to come if the Government doesn't withdraw it expansion plans.

"We've stopped speaking to the Department for Transport. We've started speaking to Earth First."

Leader of Richmond upon Thames Council and chairman of the GLA planning committee, Tony Arbour said: "Both Richmond Council and the Greater London Assembly will fight the government in its attempt to expand Heathrow by stealth. Both of these authorities have been standing up for their residents against the environmental damage that further growth will inevitably cause."

He added: "What is particularly offensive about these latest proposals is that they break the undertakings that have been given that further growth is not wanted by the BAA.

"The recent history of the Heathrow project is that for every centimetre taken, a further metre is demanded.

"We have no intention of giving up even a millimetre in our defence of the living conditions of those whom we represent."