Heathrow expansion

 

As you have probably heard on the news, Heathrow expansion is on the cards again. The Airports Commission (also known as the Davies Commission) was tasked with exploring whether and where airport capacity in South East England should be expanded. Its interim report published in December concluded that an extra runway was required (a conclusion disputed by environmental groups) and shortlisted 3 options:

·         building a new runway on the north western edge of the Heathrow site

·         extending the existing northern runway at Heathrow

·         building a new runway at Gatwick

HACAN (Heathrow Assoc for the Control of Aircraft Noise) have published an outline of the Commission’s interim findings: http://www.hacan.org.uk/resources/briefings/davies.interim.report.press.release.pdf

 

There has been intense speculation that, despite being labelled independent, Ministers have held sway in determining the Commision’s interim findings. Zac Goldsmith gave several interviews along these lines.  http://www.zacgoldsmith.com/heathrow_expansion.asp   The Aviation Environment Federation also gives a critical insight into the genesis of the report and rejects the assumption that a new runway is needed: http://www.aef.org.uk/?p=1674

 

You can sign the online petition against Heathrow expansion here http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/no-third-runway

You can support HACAN in the campaign against further expansion at www.hacan.org.uk

Night flights consultation

 

The rules governing flights at night for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted are up for review.

 

For Heathrow, community and environmental groups have been pushing for a ban on night flights between 11pm – 7am. However, the government is recommending that there should be no change to the current rules until 2017 when the final recommendations of the Airport Commission are known. Keeping the current rules would mean that West Ealing will continue to be overflown until 11.30pm and beyond.

 

The government does not want improvements to the night flights regime despite there being an increasing body of evidence pointing to the ill effects of aircraft noise on health. Indeed, the government is also requesting views on increasing night flights if planes become quieter.

 

For more detail on the consultation and the concerns of overflown communities see HACAN’s briefing:

http://www.hacan.org.uk/resources/briefings/night.flights.consultation.briefing.nov2013.pdf

 

The consultation document is published at  https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/night-flights. You can respond online at this address or by:

·         emailing: night.noise@dft.gsi.gov.uk

·         writing to: Department for Transport, Great Minster House (1/26), 33 Horseferry Road, London SW1P 4DR

The deadline for responses is 31 January 2014.

I’m reliably informed that the recently closed Grosvenor pub will re-open as a gastro pub. If true, and I hope it is, this will be one heck of a transformation. I thought it would end up as housing but this sounds a very bold move on behalf of the new owners. The Grosvenor is some way off the high street in a residential area and has a lot of potential customers within a short walking distance – including me. I wish the new owners well and really hope they will succeed and transform what had become a run-down pub in to a thriving business that becomes a cherished part of our local community.

Updated Friday 20th December

The two-storey art deco style building above Morrisons on the corner of the Uxbridge Road and St James Ave looks likely to become an integrated drug and alcohol recovery centre if planning permission goes through. A while back when I was with OPEN Ealing we negotiated a deal to take the lease on this property to make it OPEN’s permanent home. It’s a bit of a long story but the money never came through to complete the deal and this building has remained empty for a couple of years.

The service is currently sited in Leeland Road in West Ealing and the charity CRI has put in a change of use planning application to take on the 8,500 sq ft St James Annex .  Their website describes CRI as follows:

‘CRI is a social care and health charity working with individuals, families and communities across England and Wales that are affected by drugs, alcohol, crime, homelessness, domestic abuse and antisocial behaviour.

Our projects, delivered in communities and prisons, encourage and empower people to regain control of their lives and motivate them to tackle their problems.’

The centre is planned to be open from 8am – 8pm weekdays and 10am – 6pm on Saturdays.

The application can be found here by typing PP/2013/4403 in to the reference number box at the top of the form.  The closing date for comments is 3rd January. It’s a little odd that the list of consultees does not include anyone living in St James Avenue which is barely 50 metres away.