Public 'misled' on number of homes lost for Heathrow

Ministers have been accused of misleading the public over the number of homes to be destroyed to make way for Heathrow expansion.

A consultation document on the plans says no more than 700 properties would need to be bulldozed to make way for the third runway and sixth terminal.

But MPs say the actual figure could be as high as 4,000, forcing as many as 10,000 people to find new places to live.

During a heated Commons debate about the Government's proposals to expand the airport, a succession of MPs lined up to condemn them and the "biased" consultation process.

Hayes and Harlington MP John McDonnell said the figures used in the consultation document were out of line with a previous study, Runway Capacity to Serve the South-East, which had concluded at least 3,300 homes would have to be obliterated if a third runway went ahead.

He said that if development since then was taken into account then as many as 4,000 homes would need to be razed.

"Whole communities will be wiped out," said the Labour MP.

"The assessment has been doctored, the consultation process has been fixed and the planning policy has been rigged."

John Randall, Tory MP for Uxbridge, said plans to bulldoze homes near the airport were akin to the Highland clearances, when thousands of tenant farmers were evicted by rich landowners.

He described expansion as "potty" and asked the Government to explain where the evicted families would live given there was no available housing in the area.

He added that BAA, the airport's operator, had reneged on its promise when seeking permission for Terminal Five that there would be no further expansion.

"It seems to me that having Heathrow next door is like having a bully there," Mr Randall told MPs.

He also took the Government to task for looking to increase the number of flights from 420,000 a year to more than 700,000 at the same time it was preaching the importance of curbing carbon emissions.

"If [the Government] is really serious about curbing all these emissions and trying to stop climate change, they should show leadership and say, 'enough is enough'," he said.

Nick Hurd, the Conservative MP for Ruislip-Northwood, questioned the Government's claim that the business community in London was wholly in favour of expansion. He pointed to a recent survey by the Institute of Directors which found only a tiny minority of its members backed a bigger Heathrow.

"The point we hear is people want a better airport, not a bigger airport," he said.

Aviation minister Jim Fitzpatrick defended the plans, saying anyone evicted from their home as a result of expansion would be fully compensated.