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Thousands set for Heathrow protest as runway hearings are announced

Expansion plans: Heathrow airport
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Joe Murphy @JoeMurphyLondon
9 October 2015

Parliamentary hearings into whether a third runway at Heathrow would breach toxic air limits were announced today on the eve of a London rally against the scheme.

The environmental audit committee said it would hear expert evidence on implications for noise, carbon emissions and air quality if the airport is allowed to expand. Thousands of west London residents are expected to attend a rally in Parliament Square tomorrow in protest at the Airports Commission’s recommendation that Heathrow rather than Gatwick would be a better site for the first new runway in the South-East since the Second World War.

Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth will compere the cross-party event, joined by five candidates for Mayor of London, shadow chancellor John McDonnell and campaigners from Greenpeace and anti-runway group Hacan.

Organiser Zac Goldsmith, the Tory candidate for mayor, said it would show a “united response” against the commission’s findings.

“The environmental case against a third runway is devastating, and makes expansion both legally and morally impossible,” said Mr Goldsmith, MP for Richmond Park. “The economic case has completely disintegrated. I am confident that the Government will make the right decision.”

Rob Gray, director of the airport-funded Back Heathrow campaign, dismissed the protesters as a vocal minority. “This protest does not accurately reflect the views of most Londoners living near Heathrow Airport who back expansion,” he said.

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Labour MP Huw Irranca-Davies said next week’s hearings at the environmental audit committee would take evidence from green groups, traffic experts and City Hall to test the claims made by Sir Howard’s commission that expansion is possible with cleaner and quieter aircraft.

The committee will also investigate the VW emissions scandal and consider its implications for wider air quality protection.

“Toxic air pollution from traffic is contributing to thousands of deaths in the UK every year, so the cheating of car emissions tests is of grave concern,” he said. “Questions remain about the impact of VW’s actions on the UK’s air quality and the Government’s policy on cleaner transport.”

The Coalition Against Heathrow Expansion has delivered 1.6 million flyers to homes across London claiming that new flight paths would expose more people to noise.

Heathrow’s boss has pledged the environment would come first in any expansion of the airport. John Holland-Kaye has insisted Britain’s busiest airport would be “a good neighbour” to those nearby and has argued it could increase air traffic without more noise or pollution.

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