Ministers' Heathrow assurances 'impossible to trust' (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Ministers' Heathrow assurances 'impossible to trust'

8:20am Wednesday 21st January 2009

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Ministers’ assurances of limiting flights and noise from Heathrow Airport are “impossible to trust”, according to a Wandsworth MP.

Go-ahead for a third runway was given last week with the Government attempting to appease a large opposition by refusing to agree to mixed mode - which would lift limits on the number of flights over the borough - and offering road and rail development.

The green light means there will be 605,000 flights taking off and landing at Heathrow once the third runway is operational - up from the current figure of 480,000.

Announcing the plan transport secretary Geoff Hoon said: “Doing nothing will damage our economy and will have no impact on climate change”.

But Conservative Putney MP Justine Greening, who said expansion was the “biggest issue in her constituency for a generation” said concessions were a smoke-screen.

She said: “The announcement breaks earlier promises given by previous Ministers when they gave the go-ahead for Terminal 5. Then they promised a maximum 480,000 cap on flights and that there would not be a third runway - both promises are now broken, so it is impossible to trust ministers on Heathrow.”

Wandsworth Council leader, Edward Lister, speaking on behalf of 2M - a collection of local councils against expansion - echoed that sentiment.

“Air pollution levels here already exceed EU limits yet the Government does nothing. The reality is that once a third runway is in place, it will be used to the full.”

Battersea MP Martin Linton, who opposed the runway, said there was still doubt the runway would ever get off the ground because of legal challenges.

He said: “I’m still opposed to the third runway, but at least that won’t be operational until 2020 at the earliest and won’t be brought fully into use until much later - if indeed it is ever built, which I doubt.

“In the announcement they [Ministers] said they will enshrine these conditions in law and limit they number of flights on the new runway unless it is clear we are on track to meet our 80 per cent carbon reduction target by 2050.”

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