'New plane stacking system will not solve Heathrow's problems' (From Your Local Guardian)

New plane stacking system will not solve Heathrow expansion problem, 2M councils say

6:50am Friday 17th July 2009 in Local news

A new system for cutting the number of planes queuing in the skies around Heathrow airport will not reduce noise pollution, council’s opposed to expansion have said.

The 2M Group, which represents some five million people under the airport’s flightpath and includes Wandsworth Council, was responding to a recommendation from the transport select committee report on the use of airspace.

MPs want the Government to set targets for cutting plane stacking and making the air traffic management system at Heathrow more resilient when it builds a third runway.

But campaigners said the issue of stacking was secondary to the amount of noise and environmental pollution a third runway, the building of which has been approved by Government, would cause.

Wandsworth Council leader Councillor Edward Lister, speaking on behalf of 2M, said: “We recognise that stacking and flight path congestion mean more noise for many people in and around London and burn fuel, but so would more planes.

“The amount of carbon emissions produced by stacking is less than one per cent of that generated by a third runway. You can’t mitigate one environmental problem by creating another that is 100 times bigger.”

The group said Government estimates show carbon emissions from stacking would be 50,000 tonnes annually.

Heathrow emissions in 2030 with a third runway would be 23.6 million tonnes - 6.2 million tonnes above 2005 levels.

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