New runway for Heathrow planned
Report in the Independent.
Government likely to back new Heathrow runway
By Barrie Clement, Transport Editor
25 June 2001
Secret plans for another runway at Heathrow are expected to be approved by the Government in a decision that will anger environmentalists and enrage the hundreds of thousands of people who will live under its flight path.
Ministers were desperate to keep the scheme under wraps until after the publication of an official report, which is expected to back construction of the controversial Terminal 5 at the west London airport. While approval for the additional terminal will dismay green activists, news that ministers also intend to sanction another runway will make the furore worse.
Airlines have submitted the plan for an extra runway at Heathrow as their main solution to increasing demand for air travel. However, they have also submitted a proposal for a runway parallel to the existing strip at Gatwick as a less-favoured option. Ministers are expected to favour the Heathrow project and announce their approval next year, but wanted the storm over Terminal 5 to die down first.
The new landing strip at Heathrow would run parallel to the M4 and would be shorter than the existing two runways. It is intended to take shorter-haul aircraft to minimise the noise and nuisance. It would also be contained largely within the existing perimeters of the airport, which would mean the compulsory purchase of fewer than 100 houses.
Airlines have pointed out that the favoured scheme would free the two existing longer runways to take inter-continental aircraft only. The Gatwick option would also minimise environmental damage, according to its supporters.
Airline executives have told the Government that, without the additional capacity, Heathrow would play second fiddle to rival airports on the Continent. They say this would damage the entire economy.
Ministers will be able to minimise the power of protests through new planning procedures. Proposals for motorways and airport projects would be approved in principle by Parliament. Planning inquiries would be limited to considering "detailed and local matters''.
Ministers received a report on the construction of Heathrow's Terminal 5 some six months ago. Roy Vandermeer QC, who chaired the inquiry, is understood to have recommended that the total number of flights should not exceed 453,000 * a figure already reached.Ministers are thought likely to allow the limit to be exceeded when they approve the new terminal.