A consultation into the plans for a new runway to the north-west of Heathrow was opened on the 2nd February 2017 and will last for 16 weeks. The idea of the consultation is to get the public’s opinion on the plans which have been created for the expansion. Once the consultation is finished the final proposal will be given to MPs to vote on.
I visited one of the consultation events in Bracknell to see what the proposal was. Displayed on boards around the hall was information telling the locals the benefits of the Heathrow expansion for them. There were also many people dotted around the hall prepared to answer any questions that people had and to explain in more detail the information displayed. When I went there was a reasonable amount of people there but it was not busy. However, the people at the event said that they expected this to be a quieter event and they expected the ones in areas that would be more directly affected by the expansion to be very busy.
On each of the separate boards there were different arguments for why the expansion is a good thing. On the first board there was an explanation into why extra runway capacity was needed in the south east of England, saying that extra capacity was needed to maintain London’s status as a key hub for air travel and also saying that unless a new runway was built then all of London’s airports would be full by 2040. On other boards there was also information on the large amounts of jobs that expanding Heathrow would bring, the amount of cargo that goes through Heathrow and also a bit of information on what compensation people would get for the noise.
Also going on at the same time as the consultation into the expansion of Heathrow was a consultation into changing the way that the air space above the UK is managed. They wanted to make it more efficient so that planes would have to wait for less time before landing as well as getting major airports to consult their local communities more about noise.
In conclusion the consultation is a chance for the local communities to get their voices heard about the airport expansion before the vote goes before MPs. The earlier that people ask for changes the more likely that they will happen so therefore people should ask for them now.
By Matthew Lees St Georges Weybridge
