Wandsworth’s council leader has told the government, in writing, that its own evidence doesn’t support a third runway at Heathrow.
Robert Morritt signed a joint letter to the Transport Secretary on Friday, alongside six other council leaders whose boroughs cover around 1.72 million residents across London and the neighbouring home counties. The letter argues a third runway, whatever its length, fails the government’s own tests on economic growth, noise, air quality and climate change.
It lands three days before this weekend’s response deadline closes the government’s own consultation on the rulebook for any future Heathrow expansion, at 11.59pm on Tuesday.
“Wandsworth Council remains firmly opposed to Heathrow expansion and the construction of a third runway,” Morritt said. “We’re standing up for our residents, and calling on the Government to provide reassurance.”
The letter’s sharpest complaint is aimed at the consultation process itself. It argues the government’s proposed “Critical National Growth Infrastructure” label for the scheme risks prejudging the outcome before the concerns it raises have been addressed, undermining, in the leaders’ own words, “confidence that affected communities are being offered a genuinely balanced consultation process.”
On the economics, the councils use the government’s own figures against it. Its appraisal shows a GDP uplift of only around 0.05 per cent by 2056, the letter says, set against what it calls “substantial social and environmental costs.”
The leaders also reject how the government has framed its proposed 6.5-hour night-flight ban, saying it “broadly mirrors existing arrangements” and “should not be presented as a significant new safeguard.” It’s the same nine-hour break we reported was at risk after a July public meeting.
Three days left to have your say
Wandsworth is one of seven signatories, alongside Richmond, Southwark, Hillingdon, Kingston, Sutton, and Windsor and Maidenhead: councils under different political leaderships, a reminder that opposition to a third runway isn’t confined to one party.
The letter closes by calling on the government “to withdraw support for Heathrow expansion and to work with London and neighbouring boroughs, affected communities, environmental groups, transport bodies and business representatives on a more sustainable aviation and connectivity strategy.” Morritt separately pointed to Gatwick’s own approved expansion as evidence the government has other options.
Residents have the same three days the councils just used. Putney.news’ guide to responding to the consultation takes five minutes to complete, and this weekend is the last realistic window before Tuesday’s cut-off.
Wandsworth Council describes itself as a core member of the No 3rd Runway Coalition.
