Plea to PM May

Says jobs would be lost at airport

that councillors continued to oppose Heathrow but did not support Gatwick’s expansion.

The amendment was proposed by the councillor for Heathrow Villages, Peter Money.

He said: “I would like to move an amendment to this motion as it represents a departure from the council’s view in the past.

“We in the local Labour Party have always been against a third runway.

“This council should not target other communities by supporting other airports for expansion.

“We should instead be concentrating on the threat of the third runway.”

Cllr Puddifoot call the amendment a ‘cop out.’

He said: “The Government will make a decision on either Heathrow or Gatwick for expansion. That is the clear choice. What the Conservative administration in Hillingdon will say is of those two, Gatwick is the less damaging option.”

Cllr Puddifoot said 1,072 homes would need to be demolished if Heathrow was expanded, compared with 202 for Gatwick.

He also said 431 hectares of green belt land would be lost with Heathrow’s third runway, compared with 9.2 at Gatwick.

But the pro-third runway campaign group, Back Heathrow, has hit back at the council’s vote. The group’s director, Rob Gray, said: “Hillingdon Council claims to be putting residents first but it is slapping them in the face by proposing to export local jobs to Sussex.

“The council is happy to boast of Hillingdon’s role as the gateway to the world but then campaigns to keep it shut.

“They are out of touch with the views of many residents who support Heathrow and appreciate the amount of investment, apprenticeships, jobs and other benefits that its expansion will bring to the local community.”

Heathrow’s Rob Gray who believes many want the airport