A London City Hall committee has warned that plans to expand Heathrow Airport risk reversing improvements in London’s air quality and exposing residents to harmful levels of noise.
The warning was made in a letter sent to the government following its decision last month to support the Heathrow third runway expansion. The proposal could raise the number of annual flights from 480,000 to 756,000.
The cross party Environment Committee wrote to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, with all members supporting the concerns except Reform UK Assembly Member Keith Prince. The group said aircraft noise from London’s airports was “already too great” and cautioned that further expansion would worsen the situation.
Ministers recently selected Heathrow Airport’s proposal for a new 3.5 km runway alongside an underground road tunnel. The plan would require the relocation of part of the M25 motorway.
In its letter, the committee said the Heathrow third runway expansion could undermine progress made on air quality in the capital and conflict with both national and local climate commitments. It also referenced Ms Alexander’s past opposition to the project when she served as London’s deputy mayor for transport.
The committee asked the transport secretary to explain how four tests would be applied before the plans progress. These relate to air quality, climate impacts, noise levels and meaningful consultation with Londoners.
It also recommended that the government explore “caps on overall flight numbers” as a way to limit carbon emissions associated with increased air traffic.
Concerns about the Heathrow third runway expansion were raised earlier this autumn by Transport for London. In October, its director of strategy, Christina Calderato, told the committee that a third runway could undo recent environmental gains.
“We have a number of serious concerns around noise, carbon emissions and air quality – we’ve done a lot in London to improve air quality, and we don’t want to see those gains used as headroom for the Heathrow expansion,” she said.
Committee chair Leonie Cooper, a Labour Assembly Member, said the proposals raised significant environmental issues.
“The proposed expansion for Heathrow Airport raises a number of serious environmental concerns.
“Experts highlighted the risk that an expansion could reverse the recent improvements to air quality through schemes such as the Ulez.”
She said the government should “ensure appropriate tests are in place to monitor the impact on London’s air quality, on noise and for targets for no additional air quality impacts from airports”.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said Sadiq Khan remains opposed to the Heathrow third runway expansion. They said he was “unconvinced that a new Heathrow runway can deliver hundreds of thousands of additional flights every year without a hugely detrimental impact on our environment”.
The Department for Transport said any airport expansion “must be in line with environmental targets”. A spokesperson said the government was reviewing the Airports National Policy Statement to ensure its four tests on climate, air quality, noise and economic growth are met.
They added that plans to remodel flight paths would make flights “quicker, quieter, and cleaner.”
