Maidenhead & Windsor

The consultation on proposed further expansion at Heathrow airport over the next 20 years – including a third runway and a sixth terminal – will reach the Royal Windsor and Maidenhead Borough on Monday December 17 and residents are being urged to make sure they have their say.

Cllr David Burbage, Windsor and Maidenhead council leader, has issued a call for as many people as possible to visit the Department for Transport’s public exhibition at Windsor Leisure Centre (10am to 8pm) so that the community will be fully aware of what the government and BAA are planning.

He said: “If these proposals go ahead, the expansion will have an immense effect on everyone living in our borough and other communities around Heathrow. We must take advantage of the local exhibition to get fully up to speed with the proposals and make informed responses to this consultation.

“This is likely to be one of the biggest and most significant government initiatives ever in our area and it is vitally important that we have full community participation to ensure local views are heard.”

The DfT document – Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport – discusses proposals for:

* the development of a third 2,200 metre runway (wiping out 700 properties, including the entire Sipson community in the London Borough of Hillingdon
* the construction of a Terminal 6
* optimising the current runway capacity at Heathrow by introducing ‘mixed mode’ use of runways from as early as 2011 (this would raise the number of aircraft movements from the current ‘capped’ 480,000 per year with T5 to 540,000 by 2015)
* continuing to promote the growth in the number of flights to more than 700,000 per year by 2030 (after the construction of runway three and Terminal 6)
* ending the Cranford Agreement and runway alternation (although retaining westerly preference).

The document also claims that the expansion and increase in flight numbers can be achieved within existing noise limits and in accordance with EU air quality standards.

Cllr Colin Rayner, lead member for Windsor and Maidenhead highways, transport and environment, said the council was currently going through the consultation document with a fine-tooth comb and would be bringing forward its considered response in the very near future.

He said: “This is a complex, technical document with a package of proposals that appear to raise very serious issues for local homes and families because of the severe impact on everyone’s quality of life. This is why we need a huge turn-out for the Windsor exhibition so that everyone is well-informed and then we can all work together to make sure our voices are heard.

“We recommend that you don’t respond to the consultation there and then. We have until February 27 to have our say and once the council has formed its position on this document we will keep residents up to date and ensure that the government is left in no doubt about our views.”

The key issues are likely to be noise, air quality, traffic and surface access and conservation of the built and natural environment versus the perceived economic benefits of expanding the airport.

As well as the exhibition at Windsor, the DfT is also organising public exhibitions at: Cranford – Sheraton Skyline Hotel and Conference Centre (December 12); Hounslow – Montague Hall (December 15); Stanwell – Stanwell Village Hall (December 19); Colnbrook – Sheraton Heathrow Hotel (January 14); Brentford – Holiday Inn (January 16); Richmond – Adult Community College (January 18); Egham – The Jurgens Centre (January 21); Langley – Langley Community Centre (January 23): Central London (two days – dates and venue to be confirmed). Exhibitions have already been staged at Barnes and West Drayton.

The council is a member of the 2M Group – an alliance of local authorities concerned about the environmental impact of expansion at Heathrow on local communities.

Full details of the consultation are available at www.dft.gov.uk/heathrowconsultation or by calling 0845 6004170.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead