The government’s plans for a third runway at Heathrow were published today in a public consultation lasting four months.
Caroline Russell is renewing her appeal to the Mayor of London to get behind policies that would make better use of existing air and international rail capacity and has again condemned the Government’s decision to select Heathrow Airport as the preferred choice for expansion. [1]
Supporters of Heathrow expansion claim a third runway could be completed without air quality legal limits being breached. However, opponents reject suggestions that anticipated future reductions in air pollution from cleaner vehicles could allow an expanded Heathrow airport to emit more pollution than at present and stay within legal limits.
In May Caroline questioned the Mayor of London on airport expansion. He said he was ‘not persuaded further expansion of airports within London would be compatible with (my) aim of achieving legal limits for air quality as soon as possible’. [2]
Caroline Russell said:
“Moving to restrict night flights won’t help the schools under new Heathrow flights paths, as aircraft noise is expected to affect 43,000 school children. [3]
“I am renewing my call on the Mayor to influence the Government to make sure alternatives to yet more expansion are explored; annually there are around 10 million seats of unused capacity on the Eurostar and a frequent flyer levy could help use existing runways more efficiently. [4]
“The Mayor should, for example, convince the Government to renegotiate the current Eurotunnel fee structure that means both trains and passengers pay arbitrary fees and makes international train travel so expensive.
“There’s no way there should be a third runway when air pollution in Heathrow already exceeds legal limits and at least 100,000 new people are expected to be adversely affected by the blight of aircraft noise.
“Instead of dramatically cutting carbon emissions to protect ourselves from dangerous climate change, the Government is accelerating this process and with a new runway that make a mockery of their ratification of the Paris Agreement.
“Transport for London (TfL) estimate that £18 billion of investment [5] will be needed to upgrade the transport infrastructure around an expanded Heathrow with just £1 billion coming from Heathrow.
“The Mayor must explain how TfL's finances will cope with the additional pressure if this does happen. He should also set out how he will ensure the clean air savings his ULEZ might bring can be safeguarded against emissions from Heathrow expansion.”
Notes to editors
[1] In July 2016 Caroline urged the Mayor to back a Frequent Flyer Levy, a proposal to replace Air Passenger Duty with a variable levy based on the number of flights taken:
http://questions.london.gov.uk/QuestionSearch/searchclient/questions/question_28861
Caroline has written to the Mayor of London asking him to lobby Government to reduce fees levied on Eurostar trains and passengers using the Eurotunnel. An estimated 10 million seats per year go unused on Eurostar trains, in part due to these fees.
[2] In a written answer to a question from Caroline Russell, the Mayor stated that he was 'not persuaded further expansion of airports within London would be compatible with my aim of achieving legal limits for air quality as soon as possible' http://questions.london.gov.uk/QuestionSearch/searchclient/questions/question_289362
[3] Mayor of London press release on ‘astonishing cost to public health of Heathrow’
https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/astonishing-cost-to-public-health-of-heathrow
[4] Eurostar is currently running at 10.4 million passengers per year – initial forecasts on building the link were around 21 million - so there's a good 10 million seats/year of unused capacity to Europe in existing infrastructure.
[5] The Government expects aviation expansion promoters to cover any surface access costs, but Heathrow bosses have said they are not willing to pay anything above £1.1bn. However TfL figures showed a £17 billion funding gap to upgrade road and railway networks that service the airport.