The Staines Town Society objects to the plan to expand Heathrow as proposed in the draft HENPS. The ‘four tests’ are unacceptable for the following reasons: –
Noise
Currently, around four million local residents are adversely affected by existing Heathrow aircraft noise. Heathrow is the only airport in Europe situated in such a heavily built-up area and that means aircraft noise affects so many more people locally than any other airport in Europe – this is not acceptable and definitely not something to be proud of but rather the reverse!
Additionally, it will be impossible to accurately evaluate the impact of increased noise before any proposed new flight path routes have been set. We are also opposed to the proposed noise test, which should only evaluate/measure noise using the latest study 2026, ANAS/ANNE.
Respite
Our current half-day respite must continue and be fully protected—vague promises of “adequate” respite are totally unacceptable. It is a medical fact that a full 7/8 hours of sleep is required per night for one’s brain to function normally. A meaningful ban of all night flights must be applied and the meagre 6.5-hour ban must also be applied to landing and take-off times, not terminal arrival/departure times. In addition to the night flight ban, additional constraints must be applied to all aircraft noise in and out of Heathrow between 11pm and 7am.
Credibility
The ludicrous claim that 27% fewer people will be disturbed by noise, if flights are increased by 50-60%, is just not credible and completely unbelievable.
Climate
The Staines Town Society totally disagree that UK climate change obligations can be met if Heathrow (or any airport) is expanded and flights are 50% increased by 2050. High cost/low availability “Sustainable” Aviation Fuels will make little impact. Climate change has already threatened agriculture in many places including the UK (caused by the recent European heat dome and subsequent drought) we strongly believe that agricultural land cannot and must not be used to grow crops for aviation fuel.
Air Quality & Health
We completely disagree. London’s improved air quality must be protected and further improved. Emissions from in-flight aircraft are ultra-fine particulates, which MUST be fully included in the tests and evaluation.
Local Transport
It is essential that no planning application is approved without the inclusion of a properly funded scheme for the transport links (plus associated large car parking areas) that will be needed to move the millions of passengers and freight. If not, there will be massive traffic congestion across many surrounding areas creating further air pollution.
Critical National Growth Infrastructure
The preposterous designation of “Critical National Growth Infrastructure” in our opinion, appears to be simply another way for the government to force through the expansion of Heathrow, by once again overriding legitimate objections. This simply must not happen.
Many people have already signed pledges not to fly and agreed to use surface transport instead, so why is it necessary to increase the size of existing and unwanted airports, particularly when situated in the already heavily built-up, residential conglomeration surrounding London and Heathrow?
The Staines Town Society also believe that proposed scheme is economically unsound. The government must charge airlines the proper amount of tax on aircraft fuel; the cost of airline tickets is currently still too low and too much discounted. The cost of climate change is already too high without supporting any increase in flight numbers, which are one of the significant contributors to the air pollution problem.
For the reasons above, we do not believe the draft HENPS is an acceptable basis for planning policy.
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