Council leader pledges support for Heathrow
THE leader of Harrow Council has joined a campaign in favour of expansion at Heathrow Airport “to put residents in his borough first.”
Harrow Council leader, Cllr Sachin Shah, has pledged his allegiance to Back Heathrow, despite asking for a consultation on extra flights at RAF Northolt, fewer than 10 miles away from the hub airport. According to Back Heathrow, “polling consistently shows more local people back Heathrow expansion than oppose it and more than 80% of respondents to the government’s recent public consultation were supportive of a new runway”.
Labour’s Cllr Shah said: “1,200 families in Harrow stand to benefit from Heathrow expansion.
“A new runway will also see the number of local apprenticeships double from 5,000 to 10,000.
“That will have a real impact on our efforts to deal with youth unemployment in communities near the airport and give opportunities to thousands of newlyskilled young people throughout London.”
Launching a new billboard in support of Back Heathrow, along- side Cllr Shah was Cllr Phillip O’Dell (Wealdstone Labour) and Cllr Kiran Ramchandani (Queensbury Labour).
Parmjit Dhanda, Back Heathrow’s executive director, said: “I’m proud to represent more than 100,000 local people who want to see a bigger, better and more sustainable Heathrow.
“I’m delighted that Harrow Council is backing the campaign.
“Residents understand how important Heathrow is for the local economy, not just for those who work directly at the airport but also those who work in the surrounding area or in the supply chain.
“They want the government to listen to them then get on and build this vital new runway.”
An anti-expansion campaigner claims the Harrow Council leader “cannot know if his stance has the backing of his residents”.
John Stewart, of Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (HACAN), said: “As far as I am aware there have been no polls in Harrow asking people’s opinion on the third runway.
“And while a new runway might create some jobs in the borough, it is also likely that Harrow will be badly overflown for the first time by the flight paths need for the new runway.”
Jackie Clark-Basten, chairman of Stop Heathrow Expansion, added: “People in Harrow should be concerned at the significant increase in noise and air pollution that would arise from a third runway, not to mention the knock-on effect of increases in road traffic and congestion on public transport, which would result from an extra 260,000 flights per year at the airport.”
Despite backing Heathrow, a motion has been put forward by fellow Labour councillor, Graham Henson. The motion asks for a full consultation on the air base renovation and asks the Ministry of Defence to “reduce 5,000 movements for commercial aircrafts at RAF Northolt in order to improve the environment and reduce noise pollution”.
While Cllr Shah is “sympathetic to all the concerns” that people have about Heathrow’s expansion, he insists two airports are “very separate”. He said: “RAF Northolt was always built as an RAF base, never a commercial airport.
“RAF Northolt doesn’t have the jobs and growth, or the infrastructure alongside it, that Heathrow has.
“Heathrow is doing a large number of consultations and RAF Northolt needs to start talking to the residents of South Harrow and Harrow-on-the-Hill about the proposals. As the Leader of Harrow Council I have to put Harrow residents first. 1,200 families will benefit from Heathrow with all these developments, with apprenticeships, and that is why as a Council we support Heathrow.”
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling previously said that there will be a vote in parliament on Heathrow expansion in the first half of 2018, but a date is yet to be confirmed in the parliamentary diary.