…local residents back new jobs and £49 billion investment plans for Heathrow
On Thursday 7th August, nearly 400 local people attended the main hall of the Indian Gymkhana Club in Hounslow to celebrate Heathrow’s plans to build a third runway.
Supporters of Back Heathrow, the community group with over 100,000 local residents who support expansion, heard Parmjit Dhanda, Thomas Woldbye and Dame Siobhain McDonagh MP talk about expansion and what it would mean for the local and national economy.
Thomas Woldbye, Heathrow’s Chief Executive, confirmed that plans for a new runway had been submitted to Transport Minister, Heidi Alexander just days previously. He said the coming years could see £49bn of private investment into the local area, creating thousands of new jobs and apprenticeships. He reiterated that the plans would conform to the government’s standards on decarbonisation, noise and air quality.
Now that Heathrow has submitted its plans, it will be up to the Government to tell the airport if they want the investment and if so what changes, if any, they would want.
Back Heathrow’s Executive Director, Parmjit Dhanda, reminded the meeting that this event was a culmination of years of campaigning by local people. Parmjit said:
“People in this hall have been part of the struggle to build this crucial piece of infrastructure for many years. Our friends in the trade unions, chambers of commerce, local businesses, and numerous diverse community organisations have all played their part. To those who say local people don’t want expansion, let me say quite categorically, the majority do. Generations of local families have built their prosperity on jobs at Heathrow, and they want well paid skilled jobs for their children and grandchildren.”
Dame Siobhain McDonagh MP, who had offered (on live TV) to load up a cement mixer to start building the long-awaited runway herself, reminded the audience that expansion was good for the whole of London and the whole country’s economy.
Siobhain said:
“The investment a third runway brings will boost the economy and enable extra spending on health, education and housing, I fail to understand why any of my colleagues in Westminster would not want to back this 100 percent.”
Back Heathrow supporters at the event included MPs, past and present (including former Ealing MPs Steve Pound and Virendra Sharma) and a host of councillors from across the boroughs that neighbour Heathrow. Many of the campaigners present have been involved in marches to Downing Street, lobbying of their local MPs and protesting outside the law courts, in favour of the long-awaited multi-billion-pound investment.
Heathrow expansion will be one of the biggest infrastructure projects this country has ever known, providing tens of thousands of new jobs and apprenticeships, and would require 400,000 tonnes of British steel. Other improvements include the widening of the M25 at junctions 14-15. A third runway would be able to handle 50% more cargo and open up 32 new destinations for holiday makers. The project will be fully funded by the private sector.