Many of us will be concerned that Mrs May has opted to fund the expansion of Heathrow at huge expense to the public purse. This is despite the fact that the cost-benefits analysis, done by Department of Transport staff, concluded that when benefits to oversees travellers and firms were excluded, it was found that British people and firms could gain up to £4 billion more in advantages if rival Gatwick was chosen. Perhaps the lobbyists have more power than us mere earth-bound mortals?
What I find astounding in the whole process is that the health and social implications of extending Heathrow are so unacceptable that it beggars belief that the Davies report was allowed to be written without taking them into account. Heathrow claim that more than 40,000 jobs will be created in the areas around the airport; I would like to know where exactly those people are going to live? It's not easy to find lodgings locally and prices have already been pushed higher than many can afford. More people moving in to the area will push rents up even more.
Although the numbers of air quality monitoring station have been reduced by this Government in recent years, there are still enough to show that locally our air regularly breaks EU and WHO safety regulations. On October 31st 2016 a measure of 10/10 was recorded at Harlington i.e. terrible! When the lorries start rolling for the expansion, the traffic jams will do more than extend our commute and school run times, the idling Diesel engines will be pumping out nitrous oxides and fine particles and it is a joke to suggest that lorries will all be clean and electric in 10 years time.
The problems of pollutants in our air are not some far off problem in the future, they cause infant deaths, they have doubled respiratory illnesses in 20 years, 24,000 deaths per year are attributable to air pollution and ambient dioxins are linked to cancer.
Surely the time has come for Government to take it's blinkers off and realise that people are this country's true wealth and that our health should not be increasingly sacrificed to the will of those who wield influence.
What I find astounding in the whole process is that the health and social implications of extending Heathrow are so unacceptable that it beggars belief that the Davies report was allowed to be written without taking them into account. Heathrow claim that more than 40,000 jobs will be created in the areas around the airport; I would like to know where exactly those people are going to live? It's not easy to find lodgings locally and prices have already been pushed higher than many can afford. More people moving in to the area will push rents up even more.
Although the numbers of air quality monitoring station have been reduced by this Government in recent years, there are still enough to show that locally our air regularly breaks EU and WHO safety regulations. On October 31st 2016 a measure of 10/10 was recorded at Harlington i.e. terrible! When the lorries start rolling for the expansion, the traffic jams will do more than extend our commute and school run times, the idling Diesel engines will be pumping out nitrous oxides and fine particles and it is a joke to suggest that lorries will all be clean and electric in 10 years time.
The problems of pollutants in our air are not some far off problem in the future, they cause infant deaths, they have doubled respiratory illnesses in 20 years, 24,000 deaths per year are attributable to air pollution and ambient dioxins are linked to cancer.
Surely the time has come for Government to take it's blinkers off and realise that people are this country's true wealth and that our health should not be increasingly sacrificed to the will of those who wield influence.
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