Ruth Cadbury MP reacts to new Heathrow Expansion Consultation: ‘We already know a third runway will mean more noise, more congestion and more disruption.’

Heathrow Airport have announced that they will be holding another consultation on expansion between April and June. This consultation has had to take place after the Civil Aviation Authority blocked Heathrow’s attempts to increase its spending before receiving formal permission from the Secretary of State for Transport to proceed with building a third runway.

Speaking after this announcement Ruth Cadbury MP said,

‘‘After Heathrow failed to get permission for a huge increase in upfront spending we now have another consultation on expansion.

We already know that a third runway will mean more noise, more congestion and more disruption across West London. Likewise the ever growing threat of the climate crisis means we need to be reducing our emissions; not pumping more CO2 into the atmosphere. Likewise without significant investment by the Government in new rail lines, further airport expansion at Heathrow is unviable.

The Government have talked about levelling up our economy and ensuring that investment on transport infrastructure is spread out across the UK; especially in the north which has been starved of funds in recent years. We already know that Heathrow expansion will bring little or no economic benefit to the UK as a whole. Likewise here in West London we’re seeing the impact of the growing north south divide with exorbitant housing costs, congested transport and a skills shortage. This all means the case for expansion at Heathrow grows ever weaker, from both a national and a local perspective.

It’s clear that the Government need to look at the evidence, listen to local communities, and stop Heathrow expansion.’’