Packed meeting kicks off fresh fight in runway war (From Hillingdon Times)

Packed meeting kicks off fresh fight in runway war

10:52am Thursday 16th June 2005 in News By Rachel Sharp

ALMOST a thousand people packed out a school hall to hear the rally cry to fight the planned expansion of Heathrow, writes Rachel Sharp.

Residents sat cross-legged on the floor, stood up at the back and sides of the hall and even crowded outside in the playground by the open doors to listen at the No Third Runway Action Group (NoTRAG) public meeting on Tuesday night at Heathrow Primary School, in Sipson.

John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, told the crowd that apart from the people whose homes would be bulldozed to make way for the new runway, there would be three times that amount of people whose homes would become uninhabitable because of pollution and noise. He said: "If it happened anywhere else in the world we would have Bob Geldof campaigning for human rights.

"We need everyone to make sure they register their views on the master plan. People need to be fully informed at every stage."

Geraldine Nicholson, chairman of NoTRAG, told the crowded hall that getting a copy of the master plan was not turning out to be easy.

She said: "People need to see the plans to be able to give their views, BAA should have posted a copy to every resident."

She added: "This is meant to be a consultation, if we can't get hold of a copy then it's not a consultation. I urge every one of you to phone the hotline number, flood the line with calls and make sure you all get a copy."

A spokesman for BAA confirmed they had run out of copies of the master plan. She said: "We apologise for the delay in getting copies out, but more have been ordered."

The number to phone to get your free copy of the master plan is 0800 169 5569

Following the meeting a spokesman for the NoTRAG committee said: "We could not predict how many people would attend the meeting. The official number we have is 842.

"We would like to apologise to those people who could not get into the meeting, we will be holding a further meeting within the next couple of weeks so that those residents can get the information they need.

"We would like to thank everyone for their patience, especially those who gave up their seats for our elderly or less mobile residents and those people standing outside in the playground. We ask that residents keep a look out for the public notices we will be displaying and anyone with access to the internet can keep up- to-date via our website."

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