Heathrow expansion an absolute necessity
THE Heathrow Expansion dispute has been going ever since it was announced, with fierce campaigns from the two sides, between those in favour and those against, and both presenting strong and convincing arguments, supporting their case.
This has led to public opinion polls and court interventions with the former overwhelmingly in favour of expansion. Some neighbouring local authority Councils, so determined to prevent the project from going ahead, are even ‘profligately’ spending local council tax payers money contesting decisions after decisions and last but not least, the comical pledge from Boris Johnson before he became Prime Minister, that he would be prepared to put himself in front of a bulldozer if that what it would take to prevent a third runway from being built.
Up to now the saga continues, with again another pending appeal to the Supreme Court, following the recent hearing at the Court of Appeal which declared the project to be illegal. This mainly because it didn’t conform to the carbon targets set out in the Paris Agreement.
With now the frightening likelihood disastrous state of the economy as a direct result of the Covid19 pandemic and lockdown, it surely is time to put the dispute aside and get on with this very important development, if the interest of our future economy is to be protected.
BA Chief Executive, Willie Walsh has said that, given the battering his company is taking from this on-going lockdown situation, he doesn’t think his airline will recover to the level it was last year, until 2023. If this is the case for British Airways, a company of this magnitude, one can imagine what it’s likely to be for other smaller airlines or businesses linked to the airport.
My point is, this clearly tells us the more activities there are at Heathrow Airport, the more the economy benefits…both locally and nationally. And based on this same argument, the bigger the airport will be, the better will also be the economy….as a result of increased job creations and business growths.
Therefore, having Heathrow Airport extended is not only a preferred choice, but also an absolute necessity.
Shafick Emmambokus Cranford