The Japan Times - 'Very sad' west Londoners oppose Heathrow expansion

EUR -
AED 3.843685
AFN 77.423228
ALL 98.991341
AMD 412.46392
ANG 1.886635
AOA 958.556336
ARS 1108.465738
AUD 1.646152
AWG 1.883625
AZN 1.783134
BAM 1.955629
BBD 2.113615
BDT 127.188874
BGN 1.958046
BHD 0.394665
BIF 3100.228812
BMD 1.046458
BND 1.399278
BOB 7.233367
BRL 5.998828
BSD 1.046808
BTN 90.393093
BWP 14.40974
BYN 3.4259
BYR 20510.585864
BZD 2.102816
CAD 1.489686
CDF 3003.336166
CHF 0.939704
CLF 0.025745
CLP 987.943581
CNY 7.587913
CNH 7.589571
COP 4267.526704
CRC 528.753748
CUC 1.046458
CUP 27.731149
CVE 110.255356
CZK 25.074509
DJF 186.413694
DKK 7.460835
DOP 65.234294
DZD 141.056661
EGP 52.899373
ERN 15.696877
ETB 131.860866
FJD 2.401313
FKP 0.82828
GBP 0.828517
GEL 2.934124
GGP 0.82828
GHS 16.160219
GIP 0.82828
GMD 75.344692
GNF 9044.005264
GTQ 8.070129
GYD 218.692808
HKD 8.130815
HNL 26.789585
HRK 7.537226
HTG 139.155956
HUF 403.18961
IDR 17063.966206
ILS 3.737165
IMP 0.82828
INR 90.613797
IQD 1371.182606
IRR 43954.056561
ISK 145.722785
JEP 0.82828
JMD 164.541627
JOD 0.74198
JPY 156.223172
KES 135.764577
KGS 91.512818
KHR 4188.462851
KMF 492.202299
KPW 941.790882
KRW 1501.261064
KWD 0.323145
KYD 0.858086
KZT 528.878539
LAK 22673.703303
LBP 93713.725573
LKR 309.422132
LRD 207.425722
LSL 19.196785
LTL 3.08992
LVL 0.632993
LYD 5.120608
MAD 10.413363
MDL 19.394452
MGA 4935.655073
MKD 61.369495
MMK 2197.310825
MNT 3624.0035
MOP 8.374641
MRU 41.925095
MUR 48.116341
MVR 16.177754
MWK 1813.919734
MXN 21.369077
MYR 4.623993
MZN 66.545245
NAD 19.196785
NGN 1569.320164
NIO 38.325265
NOK 11.66931
NPR 145.050035
NZD 1.822638
OMR 0.402887
PAB 1.046458
PEN 3.857765
PGK 4.206801
PHP 60.564182
PKR 292.461971
PLN 4.160412
PYG 8297.223971
QAR 3.8095
RON 4.979089
RSD 117.239079
RUB 92.574395
RWF 1463.22504
SAR 3.924609
SBD 8.823426
SCR 15.586799
SDG 626.787085
SEK 11.139357
SGD 1.398286
SHP 0.831543
SLE 23.796854
SLL 21943.716629
SOS 598.013143
SRD 37.129642
STD 21659.577382
SVC 9.156898
SYP 13605.901332
SZL 19.196785
THB 35.1049
TJS 11.411582
TMT 3.66284
TND 3.306799
TOP 2.493373
TRY 38.155278
TTD 7.110079
TWD 34.339117
TZS 2684.435336
UAH 43.792574
UGX 3840.377743
USD 1.046458
UYU 45.155429
UZS 13526.323775
VES 66.270511
VND 26700.208973
VUV 128.607342
WST 2.930417
XAF 656.269732
XAG 0.032128
XAU 0.000356
XCD 2.825389
XDR 0.797113
XOF 656.269732
XPF 119.331742
YER 259.248992
ZAR 19.220967
ZMK 9419.385666
ZMW 29.687045
ZWL 336.959198
  • SCS

    -0.1200

    12.31

    -0.97%

  • GSK

    0.0807

    36.64

    +0.22%

  • BP

    -0.2800

    33.89

    -0.83%

  • AZN

    0.7100

    74.22

    +0.96%

  • NGG

    0.2100

    61.31

    +0.34%

  • RBGPF

    65.4200

    65.42

    +100%

  • RIO

    -0.7600

    63.53

    -1.2%

  • CMSD

    -0.0500

    23.42

    -0.21%

  • BTI

    -0.7000

    37.85

    -1.85%

  • CMSC

    -0.0300

    23.37

    -0.13%

  • BCE

    0.4000

    23.97

    +1.67%

  • BCC

    -9.4800

    107

    -8.86%

  • VOD

    0.1000

    8.36

    +1.2%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1300

    7.7

    -1.69%

  • RELX

    -1.1200

    49.29

    -2.27%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    12.8

    -0.16%

'Very sad' west Londoners oppose Heathrow expansion
'Very sad' west Londoners oppose Heathrow expansion / Photo: BEN STANSALL - AFP

'Very sad' west Londoners oppose Heathrow expansion

In the historic west London village of Harmondsworth, Justine Bayley pointed to where Heathrow Airport's new boundary would likely sit once a third runway is built -- just yards from her home.

Text size:

"I'd need to put my ear defenders on every time I opened the front door," said the 74-year-old, her neat garden dotted with green signs that read "Stop Heathrow Expansion".

Harmondsworth -- about an hour's train ride from central London -- has a quintessential English village feel, with its 12th-century church, grocery store, green and two pubs.

But this 1,500-strong community and the neighbouring hamlet of Longford face an uncertain future after UK finance minister Rachel Reeves announced Wednesday that the government backs a new runway at Heathrow.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government hopes extending capacity at Europe's busiest airport will help spur much-needed economic growth for the country.

Previous plans for extending the site have proposed bulldozing several hundred homes across the twin villages, which date back to the Anglo-Saxon period.

"We're quite a close tight-knit community," said Bayley, chair of the Stop Heathrow Expansion group which campaigns against the proposed development.

"A lot of people have been here 50 years plus. Their history, their memories are bound up with the houses they live in.

"You can't reconstruct the community because we would be scattered everywhere," she told AFP, in front of yellow posters in her window that scream "No Third Runway".

While Harmondsworth's streets are quaint and quiet, the same can't always be said for the skies above where planes can regularly be seen and heard descending towards or ascending from Heathrow.

Out walking in the streets was 55-year-old Leon Jennion who has lived in Longford for three decades.

When planes take off and land at Europe's biggest airport by passenger numbers his house shakes and conversations in the garden need to be paused until the aircraft have passed.

- 'Better, not bigger' -

"It's disruptive," said Jennion, who like many people in the area has a job related to the airport.

"You hear plates rattling in your cupboards and various ornaments on shelves, and doors rattling with the vibrations."

He says his home is almost certain to be demolished if the third runway goes ahead and added he would be "very sad" to leave Longford.

But Jennion also hoped Reeves's announcement will finally lead to some certainty after proposals to expand Heathrow have been mooted for the best part of two decades.

"I don't want to be having a threat around me anymore," said the father of a teenage child.

"I just want to be able to go and, not restart my life, but just continue it somewhere decent."

Outside The Five Bells pub, 18-year-old student Fletcher Rodger said he has "mixed feelings" about the plans for runway number three.

"If it provides as much economic growth as the government says it's going to then unfortunately I have to say I don't mind too much.

"There's always winners and there's always losers," he said.

Just steps away, 63-year-old Hylton Garriock wore a red hoodie emblazoned with the words "Stop Heathrow Expansion" as he manned a stand for the eponymous campaign group.

Beside him, draped over a wall, was a cloth mural boasting a giant closeup image of a plane to depict the view that the campaign group says residents will ultimately face.

He stressed that more flights will worsen climate change.

"Keep within the boundaries. Make a better Heathrow, not a bigger Heathrow," Garriock told AFP.

Proposals to expand Heathrow have long been dogged by legal challenges, political opposition and fears over the effect it would have on the environment and noise pollution.

Back at Bayley's house, parts of which date to 16th century, the activist was hopeful the plans will be stopped.

"I don't want to move. I've lived here longer than I've lived anywhere else in my life," she said.

"We haven't lost a campaign yet, and we're not intending to lose this one either."

Y.Ishikawa--JT