Free Enterprise Group's proposal
"Proposition: The Government should grant planning permission for both a third and fourth runway at Heathrow.
Britain's hub airport Heathrow is currently at 99% capacity, and London's other airports are nearly as full. Demand is predicted to double over the next few decades. If new aviation capacity is not found, London's position as a world business hub will be damaged. Heathrow is almost unique among major world airports in only having two runways, with no plans for further construction.
Two proposals for increasing capacity have dominated the debate: expanding Heathrow and building a new airport. The first, a third runway at Heathrow has the advantage of private funding, industry support, and already existing infrastructure. However, critics argue that it would only provide a stopgap solution. Britain needs in the order of at least three new runways to accommodate demand. Concentrating these runways in the same location allows the facility to enjoy the benefits of a hub airport.
One solution is to grant planning permission for both a third and fourth runway at the same time, allowing Heathrow to upgrade itself to a truly world class hub. A fourth runway could be located either north of the airport by the M4, or to the south at the current locations of the villages of Bedfont and Stanwell. A fourth runway to the south would be situated A30 (the Staines Road) and incorporate Ashford Football Club.
Another possible location could be to place the two extra runways alongside, to the west, of the existing runways. This would mean placing the runways through Poyle (next to the north runway), south of the A4, the Colnbrook bypass, and just north of Stanwell Moor (next to the south runway).
Compensation would have to be commensurate to the upheaval. While Britons whose houses are compulsorily purchased by the government get market value, the French get another 25% on top of that. We should pay such a premium to facilitate these developments in Britain. The rapid expansion of Charles de Gaulle airport at Roissy, 14 miles (23 km) to the north-east of Paris, was also eased through the help of large grants for community facilities and improved transport links.
No option for aviation expansion is perfect, but this option would allow Britain to rapidly build on its strengths, rather than take the speculative risk of a completely new facility. BAA would have the option either to build both runways simultaneously, if this proved cost efficient, or to stagger the construction. This would both give the industry more strategic certainty about its future, and be more honest with locals about what to expect."