Mayor backs Isle of Grain to the detriment of Heathrow

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has ignored Hounslow’s reliance on Heathrow when he made his submission to the Sir Howard Davies’ Airport Commission today.  He’s clearly failed to take on board the views of residents in West London especially those in Hounslow, who have been very clear in saying they don’t want a bigger Heathrow but a better Heathrow and they certainly do not want to do away with it.

This morning at city Hall, Boris Johnson announced his support for a new hub airport in the Thames Estuary on the Isle of Grain on the Hoo Penisula in Kent, (0therwise known as the Foster Island not Boris Island).  He’s taken this stance, despite Heathrow employing over 70,000 people directly and indirectly many 10,000s of people in West London & the Thames Valley.

Hounslow Council recently undertook a borough-wide consultation and the results showed that the majority of residents did not want Heathrow to be expanded but they also didn’t want the airport to close.   According to Hounslow, over 11,000 Hounslow residents (around 10 per cent of its working population) are employed at Heathrow.

It’s disappointing that the Mayor has chosen to promote another one of his bizarre ideas contrary to the views of the people of Hounslow when making his submission to the Davies’ Commission. Boris hasn’t acknowledged Hounslow is the borough most affected by Heathrow in terms of noise and the economy and the recent consultation undertaken by the local authority reflected clearly the reliance residents have on Heathrow.  If Heathrow goes, West London would lose thousands of jobs, the Mayor should not underestimate the importance which this infrastructure has on resident’s lives and livelihoods.

Yes, residents are adversely affected by the noise from Heathrow and the consultation showed they want to see night flights banned, but they want to keep their jobs.  There are ways of achieving all of this for Hounslow residents with the use of more environmentally friendly aircraft and the implementation of better noise mitigation programmes.  It’s time the Mayor stopped putting his egoistic ideas before the views of residents who live and work around Heathrow.