A third runway might mean more flights and less delays but must we always sacrifice the minority for the benefit of the majority?
After months of debate and argument a decision was reached over which airport will get the coveted runway that the Government hopes will help boost Britain’s economy amidst the post-Brexit slump. Unanimously, it was decided that Heathrow would get a third runway with Transport Secretary Christopher Grayling calling the decision, ‘truly momentous’ and stating that it would create trade and jobs. Gatwick airport released a statement in response saying that Heathrow’s third runway was, ‘not the right answer for Britain’.
As such, it is the residents of Harmondsworth that will have the most questions as the town, much like the NHS, is going to be facing cuts of a very destructive nature. The town, which lies under the flight path of planes landing at Heathrow and which suffers from conspicuous noise pollution as a result, will be partly demolished in order to make way for the third runway. For those whose houses will be demolished the Government is promising compensation. As for those left behind, their housing rights will be untenable once the runway arrives in 2018.
What next then? Work won’t start immediately and the planning is not yet complete so there is still time (as there is with Brexit) to make a difference, to lessen the potential damage. Heathrow has entered a new era, taking Brexit Britain into that era with it.
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Christopher Sharp
Award winning Dyspraxic Journalist who's been runover by a lorry (how many of those do you know? ;-) )
I am a recent graduate from King's College London where I studied War Studies and History
I am also the co-founder of LGBTQ+ charity Racing Pride
