Survey Shows Majority Of Locals Don't Oppose Third Runway

Only 28% of Chiswick residents said they were against airport expansion

Source: Hounslow Residents's Survey

An independent survey commissioned by Hounslow Council has shown that a significant majority of people in the borough are in favour of the expansion of Heathrow Airport.

Perhaps most surprisingly a breakdown of the responses by postcode showed that only 28% of Chiswick residents were against a Third Runway.

The poll was taken as part of the Council’s bi-annual survey which was carried out last autumn by independent research agency BMG Research who interviewed 1,256 residents on their doorsteps.

Overall, more than 60% of respondents were in favour of the Third Runway with around 25% against. The support for a third runway varied by area forum with residents in Bedfont, Feltham & Hanworth being more likely to support the proposal (67%) and those in Chiswick and Isleworth & Brentford the least likely to back it (47% and 52% respectively).

However, because London Borough of Hounslow residents only were surveyed, those living in the North of Chiswick in the London Borough of Ealing. who are likely to be worst affected by the new runway, were not consulted. The Third Runway will be to the north of the existing ones and the flightpath is likely to be over the Acton Green and Bedford Park areas.

A spokesperson for CHATR, the Chiswick based campaign group opposed to the Third Runway said, 'CHATR has found no evidence of widespread support for Heathrow expansion - the reverse, there is great distress and concern at the devastating implications for an area as peaceful as Chiswick. It is unclear how these figures were compiled and how representative they are.'

Ruth Cadbury MP for Brentford & Isleworth, who has consistently campaigned against a Third Runway said, “I am surprised the relative support for expansion was as high as this, but I wonder whether the result would be the same if the question was asked again after informing respondents of the noise impact of the new runway on their lives. Most people who live anywhere near the approach path for the runway are unaware of its route as neither the Government nor Heathrow have informed them, despite the route being easy enough to identify. And those near the existing approach paths are completely unaware that their current 8 hour respite will be cut when the third runway is built.

“I also fear that people assume that because the Third Runway was agreed in Parliament last June, that it’s a done deal. In fact it’s very far from that. There are a number of large hurdles Heathrow has to go through; the ongoing legal challenge, the lack of funding for the much-needed additional rail access, the trend away from hub airport models towards point-to=point business, and so on.”

She urged people to respond to Heathrow’s ongoing consultationand focus on the elements that affect the areas close to Heathrow such as the new late arrival path which will come in over north Chiswick even without the third Runway, the early morning alternation option, and the questions on Westerly Preference.

Ruth Cadbury will be speaking (Commons business allowing) at a Public Meeting organised by BASHE (Brentford & Hounslow Stop Heathrow Expansion) which takes place at Nishkam School, Syon Lane, Osterley TW7 next Thursday, 28 February at 7pm. John Stewart from HACAN, Tim Crosland from Plan B Climate Change, and Geraldine Nicholson from the Heathrow Villages campaign will also be attending.

The current consultation covers a number of topics: Runway Alternation; Airspace changes; Westerly Preference; Night Flights; Extra flights in advance of a third runway. All the proposals assume a third runway will be built. The consultation runs from 8 January to 4 March.

February 20, 2019