I'm confused. Are you saying that the reason those areas haven't been built on is that they are being safeguarded, or confirming that the owner simply wasn't prepared to sell ?
Just curious.
I had never heard the farmer story but it always struck me as odd that so much land close to LHR remained as open farmland for decades and I always assumed that it was somehow safeguarded perhaps by that rarest creature the far seeing bureaucrat.
The area south of the airport is pretty much a no no with a huge fuel farm lots more hosues and a hulking great reservoir to be disposed of before you even get to the listed status of Stanwell church , 1120 or similar so its north of LHR or nothing
AFAIK, the land north of LHR was safeguarded for the 3 extra intersecting rwys, but the area needed for 2 mi. long parallel rwy(s) and the adjacant terminal(s), other infrastructure, etc., is larger.
Speaking of which, surely it must almost be time for another Government inquiry ? We haven't had one for almost nine months already
Let's have a ROYAL commission this time, we haven't had one of those for ages......