Council to run its own Heathrow meetings

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with two public meetings to discuss the Government's plans to expand Heathrow.

The council-organised meetings will be held at St Mary's Church, Putney Bridge on January 17 and Belleville School, Webb's Road, Battersea on February 5.

Both meetings will start at 7.30pm and will include a presentation from campaign group HACAN.

The Government will not be holding any information events in the borough. This means no minister will be available to field residents' questions.

A series of Department for Transport exhibitions will be held in some parts of west London where residents will be able to find out more about the consultation - none of these are planned for Wandsworth. The nearest Government exhibition is on 7th December at the Wetlands Centre Barnes from 10am - 8pm.

Council leader Edward Lister said

"This is the biggest environmental issue in the capital yet ministers refuse to come out and debate their airport expansion plans with the people whose lives will be affected.

"They can't even be bothered to send their road show to the borough. It's the same contempt they have shown to residents in Hammersmith and Fulham and Ealing who have also been excluded.

"We will be doing our best to explain the impact of the plans and in particular how ending runway alternation will mean non-stop noise throughout the day.

"This is a very complex consultation with masses of technical data. We will be highlighting what is being said about noise and air quality issues so that local people can respond fully to the consultation."

You can view the transport department's 'Adding capacity at Heathrow'
material at www.dft.gov.uk/heathrowconsultation . The DfT consultation closes on February 27.

Wandsworth Council is a member of the 2M Group of local councils opposed to expansion. The 2M Group of local authorities represents 2 million people in communities around the airport. It comprises the London Boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kensington and Chelsea, Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth. Authorities outside London include Slough, South Bucks, Spelthorne and Windsor and Maidenhead.

November 30, 2007