Richmond Heathrow Campaign

The Richmond Heathrow Campaign is a joint initiative of The Richmond Society, Friends of Richmond Green and The Kew Society
to combat Heathrow expansion and its effect on Richmond Town, Richmond Hill and Kew

Why we opposed Heathrow expansion

We believe that expansion of Heathrow is principally for the benefit of the airport operator and some airlines, at the cost to everyone else of greater noise, congestion, pollution and risk.
Heathrow expansion will result in more noise and congestion for Richmond and the whole of west London.
We were not reassured by Government commitments on aircraft movements. Many Heathrow promises have been broken in the past.
We are not reassured by the Government's promises to limit noise levels. In formulating limits they ignored their own ANASE study.
We were never convinced by the Government's proposals to mitigate increased CO₂ emissions arising from the third runway's operations.
Government rail proposals are as yet unfunded and so entirely speculative.

What we have to do next

Safeguard runway alternation. There will now be pressure to increase the number of aircraft movements at Heathrow each year from its current level. Runway alternation is at risk, and with it our half days of respite from aircraft noise.
End night flights. Night flight arrangements come up for review in 2012. Currently an average of 16 landings are permitted each morning before 6:00 am. We see no economic benefit in this at all. Instead we see plenty of disturbance to the sleep of several million people. We will be campaigning for the complete abolition of night flights.
Reduce early morning noise. Noise disturbance between 6:00 am and 7:00 am is very substantial, with landings often taking place on both runways despite alternation. We need to find ways of reducing the noise in this early morning hour.