Airport demo today
8:50am Saturday 31st May 2008 in Where I Live
MPs and council leaders will join thousands of protesters in a huge demonstration against expansion at the UK's biggest airport.
In what organisers hope will be the biggest-ever protest of its kind, the demonstration will be held at Heathrow airport in west London.
Support for the event - being called Make A Noise Carnival - is expected from all over the UK.
The demonstrators will walk from Hatton Cross to Sipson, the village that will be lost if plans for a third runway at Heathrow go ahead.
At Sipson, the protesters will gather in a field to form a huge "NO" that should be visible to passing aircraft.
Politicians and environmentalists are due to address the crowds and bands will play.
John Stewart, chairman of Heathrow anti-noise and anti-expansion group Hacan, said: "Heathrow has never before seen a spectacle like this. Thousands of people will be demonstrating against Heathrow expansion.
"Coaches will be coming from as far away as Manchester and Southampton and we will be joined by campaigners from Athens Airport in Greece. Heathrow has become a symbol of worldwide resistance against aggressive airport expansion."
Tamsin Omond, who recently scaled the roof of Parliament in protest at Heathrow expansion, is one of the organisers of Make A Noise. She said: "Gordon Brown's got a real fight on his hands here.
"People face losing their homes if he gives the green light to a third runway, and they'll be joined by thousands of others who are deeply concerned about increased noise levels and climate change."
