Heathrow: Campaigners and business disagree on third runway
"Three-quarters of the village would be demolished. It wouldn't be a viable community. Pubs, the shops will go because there aren't enough customers. "The bus won't come up on the main road because there's a runway in the way. It's a lose, lose, lose all round."Justine Bayley lives in Harmondsworth, a village in Hillingdon in west London, which would be partially demolished to make way for a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
She told BBC London the expansion plan isn't "realistic" when the mayor of London has pledged to reduce pollution and noise."Sadiq Khan has been working very hard to improve both in London. We're actually part of London here and we'd like to see the improvements as well," she says."By putting lots more planes in the air and lots more cars delivering people to the airport, they all produce noise, they produce pollution."Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has hinted that the government will support a third runway at Heathrow Airport, saying "sustainable aviation and economic growth go hand in hand".She is expected to confirm whether the government will back the expansion of Heathrow in a speech on Wednesday.While Justine, who is part of campaign group Stop Heathrow Expansion, is against a third runway, others in London are in favour.Some business groups say a third runway is vital to stimulate the economy and create new jobs.
John Dickie from BusinessLDN said the expansion of the airport was about competitiveness and connectivity.He said: "Other cities in Europe and indeed globally are stealing a march on us."They're improving that connectivity, they're improving the number of cities they can connect directly and that makes it a competitive advantage for them and a competitive disadvantage for us, but it's more than just that."Anyone who's flown from Heathrow recently will know that the airport is absolutely full."If the government does give the green light to a third runway, there are issues to consider around the cost, the environmental impact and the time it would take to build. It's likely there would be a complex planning process that follows. It's also likely that environmental campaigners would challenge the plans.London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has said he would support a legal challenge if the government does giving its backing to the project.
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