Gordon Brown faces a new headache this weekend as thousands prepare to march around Heathrow airport demanding a halt to his government’s push for a third runway.
West London residents will be joined by environmentalists at the Make A Noise Carnival on Saturday afternoon. The protesters will walk from Hatton Cross tube station then along Heathrow’s perimeter fence to Sipson – the village set to be bulldozed if Brown’s plans for expansion go ahead. There the thousands of marchers will gather in a field to form the world’s biggest ever ‘NO’ – visable to landing aircraft (and descending Prime Ministers).
Pictures and broadcast images taken from a crane above the NO will be made available – roads close at 11am so media vehicles should be in Sipson before then if necessary.
A letter of support from the Archbishop of Canterbury will be read out, while MPs from all the main political parties are joining the marchers. Research by Greenpeace released today reveals growing dissent as most London Labour MPs who reveal their position now oppose their party’s plans for Heathrow expansion. Dissenters even include health minister Ann Keen.
The protest carnival will be addressed by MPs including John McDonnell – whose constituency includes the airport - Richmond representative Susan Kramer and rising Tory Justine Greening. Green MEP Caroline Lucas, environmentalist George Monbiot, local council leaders and Sipson residents will also take the stage before bands entertain the carnival-goers.
Tamsin Omond, who recently scaled the roof of Parliament in protest at Heathrow expansion, is one of the organisers of Make A Noise. She said: “Gordon Brown’s got a real fight on his hands here. People face losing their homes if he gives the green light to a third runway, and they’ll be joined on Saturday by thousands of others who are deeply concerned about increased noise levels and climate change. That’s why we’ll be using our bodies to form a NO so big it will be visable from planes circling Heathrow. The mood in West London is pretty angry right now. If the next election is close then Brown may regret taking us on.”
The Make A Noise Carnival is the last chance for Londoners to register their opposition to expansion before transport secretary Ruth Kelly formally announces the Government’s plans for Heathrow. Labour has said it supports building a third runway, and earlier this year held a ‘public consultation’ widely derided as a sham. Documents acquired under freedom of information legislation revealed extraordinary collusion between Brown’s administration and airport operator BAA, with the consultation process being fixed and unhelpful pollution data ‘stripped out’ (Sunday Times front page, March 9th 2008).
The Government and BAA want to see a third runway and sixth terminal built over the villages of Sipson and Harmondsworth, increasing the number of flights from 480,000 a year to more than 700,000. A quarter of a million Londoners face increased levels of noise, while CO2 emissions from Heathrow would rise dramatically at a time when politicians claim to be tackling global warming. Even Brown’s own environment advisors at the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) are now calling for a halt to Heathrow expansion.
For more information call 07801 212967 - www.make-a-noise.org
Notes:
The Make A Noise Carnival begins at Hatton Cross tube between noon and 12.45 on Saturday 31st May 2008. It will arrive at Sipson at 2.30pm. Video and stills from crane above field will be made available.
There will be no vehicle access to Sipson village after 11am. Sat trucks are recommended to park at the Renaissance Hotel nearby (Bath Road, TW6 2AQ)
Map of start point, route and location of ‘Big NO’
