In response to the publication by Heathrow Ltd of its revised plans for a new runway I have expressed my anger that this would devastate the Heathrow villages and the south of Hillingdon borough.These latest plans are trying to hide the devastating impact that this new runway would have not just on the Heathrow villages but on the whole of the south of the borough. The airport’s estimates of the number of homes to be bulldozed or rendered unliveable are ludicrously low and bear no relationship to reality. It isn’t just Harmondsworth, Longford and Sipson that will disappear under tarmac but Harlington and the southern parts of West Drayton and Hayes will be made unliveable by noise and air pollution.

The compensation offered in no way makes up for the loss of people’s homes and communities and the disruption they would suffer as they are uprooted. The funding offered by the airport for insulation is derisory and people know that they can’t insulate their gardens, parks, open spaces and school playgrounds from the noise and air pollution caused by the massive increase in planes predicted. And I fear that the road network associated with a new runway would mean Cherry Lane cemetery, our schools, our historic buildings and churches are once more at risk.

It’s clear that we have to fight off this threat just as we have done before and I am confident we can succeed again. Over the coming months we will be mobilising as a community once more and I will be throwing myself into this campaign.