Heathrow Third Runway
Despite its relative distance from Heathrow, the Henley constituency is still one of those affected by noise from aircraft coming to and departing from Heathrow. My postbag on this subject has been large, because Henley and the surrounding area is one of those places above which aircraft bank to approach Heathrow.
Much of the constituency also lies within the Chilterns Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where one of the features is tranquility - an escape for Londoners as much as a feature for local residents. We go to great lengths locally to preserve that tranquility on the ground with tight planning restrictions, but it would seem that we are not prepared to do that in the air.
A third runway would create problems on the ground as well as in the air. Many of those difficulties relate to and come from congestion on the roads. There will inevitably be a wall of congestion between us and London as a result of the third runway going ahead.
I am not anti-Heathrow; I am not anti the aviation industry. There is a great need to make Heathrow better, rather than bigger. To do that, we need to understand that high-speed rail is an alternative that would take passengers out of the air, and not just make it easier for them to travel when they land.
