West Londoners oppose Heathrow expansion

HARMONDSWORTH, United Kingdom: In the historic west London village of Harmondsworth, Justine Bayley pointed to where Heathrow Airport´s new boundary would likely sit once a third runway is built -- just yards from her home.

“I´d need to put my ear defenders on every time I opened the front door,” said the 74-year-old, her neat garden dotted with green signs that read “Stop Heathrow Expansion”.

Harmondsworth -- about an hour´s train ride from central London -- has a quintessential English village feel, with its 12th-century church, grocery store, green and two pubs.

But this 1,500-strong community and the neighbouring hamlet of Longford face an uncertain future after UK finance minister Rachel Reeves announced Wednesday that the government backs a new runway at Heathrow.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer´s Labour government hopes extending capacity at Europe´s busiest airport will help spur much-needed economic growth for the country.

Previous plans for extending the site have proposed bulldozing several hundred homes across the twin villages, which date back to the Anglo-Saxon period.

“We´re quite a close tight-knit community,” said Bayley, chair of the Stop Heathrow Expansion group which campaigns against the proposed development.

“A lot of people have been here 50 years plus. Their history, their memories are bound up with the houses they live in.

“You can´t reconstruct the community because we would be scattered everywhere,” she told AFP, in front of yellow posters in her window that scream “No Third Runway”.

While Harmondsworth´s streets are quaint and quiet, the same can´t always be said for the skies above where planes can regularly be seen and heard descending towards or ascending from Heathrow.

Out walking in the streets was 55-year-old Leon Jennion who has lived in Longford for three decades.

When planes take off and land at Europe´s biggest airport by passenger numbers his house shakes and conversations in the garden need to be paused until the aircraft have passed.

“It´s disruptive,” said Jennion, who like many people in the area has a job related to the airport.

“You hear plates rattling in your cupboards and various ornaments on shelves, and doors rattling with the vibrations.”

He says his home is almost certain to be demolished if the third runway goes ahead and added he would be “very sad” to leave Longford.

But Jennion also hoped Reeves´s announcement will finally lead to some certainty after proposals to expand Heathrow have been mooted for the best part of two decades.

“I don´t want to be having a threat around me anymore,” said the father of a teenage child.

“I just want to be able to go and, not restart my life, but just continue it somewhere decent.”

Outside The Five Bells pub, 18-year-old student Fletcher Rodger said he has “mixed feelings” about the plans for runway number three.

“If it provides as much economic growth as the government says it´s going to then unfortunately I have to say I don´t mind too much.

“There´s always winners and there´s always losers,” he said. Just steps away, 63-year-old Hylton Garriock wore a red hoodie emblazoned with the words “Stop Heathrow Expansion” as he manned a stand for the eponymous campaign group.

Beside him, draped over a wall, was a cloth mural boasting a giant closeup image of a plane to depict the view that the campaign group says residents will ultimately face.

He stressed that more flights will worsen climate change.

“Keep within the boundaries. Make a better Heathrow, not a bigger Heathrow,” Garriock told AFP.

Proposals to expand Heathrow have long been dogged by legal challenges, political opposition and fears over the effect it would have on the environment and noise pollution.