Back door expansion at Heathrow?

July 19, 2011

A Boeing 747-400 passes close to houses shortly before landing at London Heathrow Airport

Imagine living close to Heathrow. It is a fair point that people who buy a home in that part of town should know what they are signing up to and we must not of course forget the significant numbers who live nearby because they work at Heathrow.   This part of London is dominated by Heathrow economics.  Nonetheless, there is a balance to be struck and local residents should not be subjected to relentless noise day after day without respite. Yet, this practice is something which the government will be trialing this Autumn and next summer.
Last week, the Department for Transport announced proposals to allow more “flexibility” to BAA to decide when they can relax existing practices so that both runways at Heathrow can be used for takeoff and landing simultaneously (otherwise known as mixed mode).  Normally, one runway is used for landings and the other for takeoffs switching halfway through the day.

So at the moment BAA are permitted under limited circumstances, for example, during busy periods or during poor weather conditions to use both runways simultaneously.  These proposals effectively give airlines the green light to implement these special measure procedures much more often.  Mixed mode expansion is what residents have feared the most.  The government pledged there would be no expansion at Heathrow, yet this is exactly what they are now proposing.  In the meantime The Department for Transport are playing the whole thing down using semantics, claiming that the proposals are different to mixed mode because they are not “planned”. And they think this is somehow better? Now residents are not only expected to endure noise throughout the day, but they will also be subjected to it at hoc, at the discretion of the airline companies without effective stringent policing. I think it’s time to bolt the back door!

 

Filed under: Local News

5 Comments Leave a Comment

  • 1. Abdul Fatah Soomro  |  August 1, 2011 at 7:59

    Dear Mr. Murad Qureshi,
    I am an Advocate, interested in the principles of cooperatism and
    while reading the literature of Cooperative Party UK, I was glad to find your
    name on account of your previous nationality as Pakistani, and I believe
    (perhaps not wrongly )presently Bangladesh. I want to know whether eligibility
    to membership of Cooperative Party UK is limited to the nationals of UK only and
    whether foreigners can attend the forth coming convention of the Cooperative
    Party UK if so on what terms and conditions?
    I hope you will kindly respond at your earliest.
    With regards,
    I am,
    Abdul Fatah Soomro
    (Karachi,Sindh Pakistan)

  • 2. Murad  |  August 20, 2011 at 11:37

    Abdul, l will have to find out from the Copoperative Party of the UK and get back to you. Hope you can wait. Murad

  • 3. Abdul Fatah Soomro  |  September 4, 2011 at 13:13

    OK.Thanks for that

  • 4. The Qureshi Report »&hellip  |  October 21, 2011 at 16:57

    [...] into Heathrow, which are quieter than the older models. Although recent changes to flight paths and operational methods could mean that more people than ever are being affected by aircraft noise, the scale and impact of [...]

  • 5. Abdul Fatah Soomro  |  November 6, 2011 at 10:21

    Wish U Happy Eid Mubarak

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