Forthcoming Public Meetings and Events
A growing number of campaign groups are organising events to show their opposition airport expansion, particularly at Heathrow. Here's your chance to join us and show the government what you think.
Next NoTRAG event is our AGM on Thursday, 4th June.
NoTRAG Archive - May 2009
The NoTRAG website has a new look...
...but you can still find your old favourites.
We now have a newspaper-style format to reflect the change in our campaign, which stepped up a gear when the government decided to push ahead with a third runway.
We've introduced new features on these pages but favourites like our community page are only a click away.
Euro Elections: Labour stands alone in support of third runway
Date : Sunday 31st May 2009
A survey of candidates in the European elections on 4th June shows that the Labour Party has become isolated in its support of a third runway at Heathrow.
HACAN, a campaign group for those who suffer due to aircraft noise, wrote to all the leading candidates standing in both the London and South East constituencies to ask their views on Heathrow expansion.
No Labour candidate responded, yet representatives of all the other political parties took the opportunity to voice opposition to the expansion plans.
Both Charles Tannoch MEP (Con) and Richard Ashworth MEP (Con) support the Conservative Party's opposition. Sarah Ludford MEP (Lib Dem) confirmed the committment of the Liberal Democrats to stop a third runway and added, "I have personally been an outspoken opponent of Heathrow expansion for the decade that I have been an MEP."
Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas MEP said, “I am completely opposed to the proposal to build a third runway at Heathrow and am campaigning to put the brakes on all airport expansion, because it is massively incompatible with the need to significantly reduce greenhouse gases by 2020.”
Jean Lambert MEP listens to NoTRAG's Linda McCutcheon when The Green Party bus stopped in Sipson on 29th May.
Jean Lambert, the Green MEP for London said, “I do not support the third runway because I believe it is bad for the environment, bad for health, bad for education and because the economic case is not made.”
Nigel Farage MEP, the UKIP Leader, said, “I remain unconvinced that a third runway is necessary for any economic reason and from a social perspective it is highly undesirable.”
Both the British National Party and the English Democrats also expressed their opposition to a third runway.
John Stewart of HACAN with Jean Lambert MEP and Green Party candidate John Hunt.
HACAN Chair John Stewart said, “The silence from the Labour candidates has been deafening. We know there are many individual members of the Labour Party who oppose Heathrow expansion but this survey confirms just how isolated the Government is on the issue.”
Campaign group calls for a "clear out and clean up" of DfT
Date : Tuesday 26th May 2009
Following revelations that the Department for Transport has been spying on Heathrow critics, campaign group HACAN has called for the next government to "clear out and clean up" the department.
Civic Servants at the DfT have been squandering public money on pointless monitoring of members of the public who have voiced concerns about Heathrow expansion.
The people who approved this action are presumably the same people who provide Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon with briefings - since he considers himself far too busy to gather and read relevant information for himself.
HACAN Chair John Stewart said, “If he had any honour at all, Transport Minister Geoff Hoon would resign over this. But it is a clear sign of the Government’s desperation that they are losing the battle over a third runway that they have to stoop as low as this. If we ever have meetings with civil servants, they may as well caution us that anything we say will be taken down and used as evidence against us and handed to the Police!”
Stewart added, “In the longer-term, the challenge for the next Government will be to clean up the Department for Transport and have a wholesale clear out of the civil servants in the aviation sector.”
British Airways reports record loss of £401 million
Date : Friday 22nd May 2009
With a deficit even wider than business analysts predicted, the future looked gloomy as British Airways reported a pre-tax loss of £401 million.
The figures reflect that as passengers numbers have dropped (particularly in first and business class) fuel costs have increased by a massive 44.5 per cent to almost £3 billion.
Despite desperate attempts to woo premier passengers to BA with a free taxi to and from Heathrow's T5, no one sees an early change to the decline in demand.
Taxi for Mr Walsh! Can't fill his planes and losing shedloads of cash but still claims Heathrow needs another runway.
“It’s a sobering set of numbers and a very downbeat outlook statement,” said Douglas McNeill, a transport analyst at Blue Oar Securities in London. “There’s more red ink than green shoots.”
The airline will park as many as 16 planes and cut winter capacity by 4 percent as it struggles to fill seats.
Chief Executive Willie Walsh has always emphasised the importance of Heathrow jobs but the current situation demonstrates how vulnerable airport workers are to an economic downturn. Currently, his staff are being offered the option of unpaid leave or working part-time.
Walsh, in a conference call with reporters, declined to specify how many jobs would be lost - though, no doubt, he intends to keep his own. Meanwhile, shareholders won't be getting a 2008 dividend.
Latest must-see Climate Change movie
If you missed the amazing premiere, look out for nationwide screenings. Screenings during half term include three at Brunel University, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge UB8 3PH:
Tuesday, May 26 at 12pm to 2pm. Lecture Centre Room 061.
Wednesday, May 27 at 3pm to 5pm. The Academy, Union of Brunel Students, Hamilton Centre.
Wednesday, May 27 at 6pm to 8pm. Lecture Centre Room 061.
There is a suggested donation of £1 at the door.
Richard Briers digs for victory on Airplot
Date : Tuesday 12th May 2009
Actor Richard Briers dug out his wellies and headed down to Greenpeace's plot of land in Sipson village to start planting on the Airplot allotment and oppose a third runway.
Richard, star of classic eco sit-com The Good Life, was joined by Alys Fowler, presenter of BBC's Gardeners' World.
Alys Fowler, Anna Jones and Richard Briers
The TV personalities helped plant fruit trees and vegetables on the site of the proposed third runway. Greenpeace activists and local residents joined in with plants and equipment donated by B&Q, Sipson Garden Centre and the residents themselves.
Fight expansion - value your roots!
The land was bought by Greenpeace in November and is now owned by 45,000 of its members including Emma Thompson, Zac Goldsmith and Alistair McGowan.
In this joint venture between Garden Organic and Greenpeace, raised beds were planted with a selection of organic vegetables for the Heritage Seed collection with two Bright Future apple trees settled in nearby.
Richard Briers plants an apple tree
The apple trees were selected as a mark of respect to Richard Cox, creator of the Cox's Orange Pippin apple, who is buried in St Mary's Churchyard in neighbouring Harmondsworth village, which would be at risk from the third runway development.
Richard Briers said: "I'm planting carrot seeds. After they've grown I'm going to send a runway carrot once a year to every member of the cabinet. I'm hoping they'll become so attached to them that they'll drop their plans for Heathrow expansion. It's always best to reach for the carrot rather than the stick."
Thank you Richard, you've earned a sit down
Alys Fowler said: "This year, grow something, anything, and you will make your world a cleaner, greener more pleasant place to be. Grow something you can eat or drink — a simple mint tea, a salad, your own cucumber for a sandwich and you will not only taste something mind blowing, but you'll lighten your footprint in the nicest possible way."
Bob Sherman from Garden Organic said: "We have always taken the view that growing your own food is about helping the environment as well as being healthy."
Greenpeace climate campaigner Anna Jones said: "A third runway cannot and will not be built. The whole country is against this ridiculous plan, and tired of a government that lectures them on doing their bit for the environment, and then turns around to support huge carbon-intensive infrastructure. The Government needs to get out of bed with the aviation industry and listen to the scientists, voters and businesses that understand that Heathrow expansion has no place within a low-carbon future."
Engraved plaque on the Airplot potting shed
The project has numerous endorsements from celebrity gardeners, including Monty Don, who said: "The plan for a third runway at Heathrow is institutionalised madness and I wish Richard and the community of Sipson the best of luck in their campaign."
Cemetery processions demonstrate respect for the dead
Date : Saturday 2nd May 2009
Two solemn processions of "mourners" took place on Saturday to show respect for the dead, something that the governement has disregarded with its plans to drive a road through Cherry Lane Cemetery.
BAA will have hoped that the Cherry Lane Against Development campaign (CLAD) would disband when BAA announced that they would not disrupt graves.
However, even if BAA's word could be trusted, the company admitted that it was the government and not them that would decide on the position of any roads created to serve a new third runway.
CLAD founder Natasha Le Mothe, 34, whose father is buried at the cemetery said: "The anguish that this proposal has caused has made us want to go out and do something that is very visual, that's very powerful."
On Saturday morning Police estimated over 200 people followed the hearse in a procession through Central London from Trafalar Square down Whitehall to the Houses of Parliament.
Then, at 3pm, another procession of similar size walked from Harlington Baptist Church to Cherry Lane Cemetery itself.
Procession sets off from Harlington Village Green
Young and old and various faiths took part
John McDonnell MP reads the eulogy
In the beautifully kept cemetery grounds, Natasha's disabled mother, Edna, introduced religious leaders and local MP John McDonnell.
After prayers and blessings, small candles were lit to remember those people who have been laid to rest in the cemetery and to demonstrate that this campaign to save their final resting place lives on.
Department of Transport passes data on Heathrow critics to police
Date : Monday 25th May 2009
Civil servants have been compiling dossiers on opponents of Heathrow expansion and handing them over to police, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
Political Reporter Ian Drury revealed that Communications staff at the Department for Transport are gathering information on legitimate objectors. These people are not just those involved with campaign groups, such as NoTRAG and HACAN, but ordinary members of the public who have written letters or taken part in demonstrations or protests.
Workers at the DfT (or DafT as it is becoming known) have spent their time, and taxpayers' money, trawling through websites, news articles and public consultations in order to brief detectives.
The existence of the "communications directorate" charged with monitoring opposition to a third runway was revealed in a written Parliamentary answer from Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon.
Mr Hoon claimed the information was being passed to police to ensure public safety.
In response Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker said, "The fact that the monitoring was being undertaken by a communications and public relations team, rather than by the police or security service officials strongly suggests the Government's real concerns about protests are political and nothing to do with national security or public order."
The DfT claims that all the information gathered was readily available in the public domain. If that was the case, how useful was the information? Some campaigners wonder whether such tactics are aimed at discouraging any form of protest. Linda McCutcheon, NoTRAG secretary, told the Evening Standard: “I'm disgusted that our Government is using such sinister tactics to keep us in check — it's tantamount to blackmail.”
EuroFlashmobs show united front against airport expansion
Date : Saturday 16th May 2009
Anti-airport expansion campaigners at six European airports co-ordinated a simulataneous protest to dispell the myth that Europeans are willing participants in the aviation industry's race to concrete over vast areas.
The Flashmobs took place at Frankfurt (Germany), Schiphol (Netherlands), Brussels (Belgium), Dublin (Ireland, Charles de Gaulle (France) and, of course, Heathrow (England).
At Heathrow's Terminal One Departures, protesters staged a Eurovision-themed flashmob with a sing-a-long to past Eurovision hits - with some fun lyric changes.
On this occasion the flashmob had been allocated an area away from the check-in desks but many passengers couldn't resist checking out the source of the music. There was also a break-out conga line to spread the word.
HACAN chairman John Stewart said "We wanted to give a lie to the claim by the pro camp that if expansion does not happen here, it will happen elsewhere in Europe. There is a movement happening right across Europe and we are proud to be a part of that."
Hayes and Harlington MP John McDonnell, as always personally giving his support to anti-expansion protests, was asked to address the crowd and couldn't resist a joke at the expense of MPs who have other priorities: "I can't stay long today - I have to get home to clean the moat!"
Fury as more pro-runway MPs have expense claims exposed
Date : Friday 15th May 2009
Hoon, McNulty, Blears, Darling, Morley, Malik, Vaz....the list of pro-runway MPs under scrutiny for creative property allowance claims continues to grow.
"It's a hard knock life - for us!"
It's staggering that these contemptible specimens had the nerve to insist that honest, decent residents living near Heathrow should be evicted from their homes when these MPs have benefitted from homes paid for and comfortably furnished by the taxpayer.
The police are now, quite rightly, investigating the claims of some MPs. Two of those MPs are reported to be Tony McNulty and Geoff Hoon who have been accused of "flipping" - which enabled MPs to choose which of their properties to nominate as their main residence, thus enabling generous allowances to be claimed on second properties.
After being exposed by the Daily Telegraph, "flipping" Hazel Blears flashed a cheque for the £13,000 she planned to pay back. Clearly this was petty cash to Blears. It represented the captial gains tax she had avoided by claiming a property was a main residence when, in fact, she had stated it was a second home to claim a her full allowance of over £20,000 a year. It was a gesture that insulted the public - who would not so easily forget the £45,000 profit she made on the sale of that property.
We have a Communities Minister who cares so little about communities that she gives the go ahead for plans that will destroy quality of life for people near Heathrow and Stansted yet can still grin from ear to ear at the thought that those same people are funding her lavish lifestyle and property dealings.
We have a Transport Minister who has used taxpayers' money to build a £1.7 million property portfolio yet sees nothing wrong with destroying the homes of Sipson residents knowing there is nowhere for them to go.
We had, until he was suspended, an arrogant Justice Minister who could not understand the injustice of claiming for a home cinema and massaging chair for his "second home" while other famillies are struggling to keep one roof over their heads.
Mummy's boy says he lives with parents
Investigations into these expenses claims should be swift. MPs who have been dishonest should be treated with the same sympathy as benefits cheats and crooks who raid the poor box.
Emergency Fuel Dumping - fears for health, environment and safety
Date : Monday 7th May 2009
Aircraft that need to return to ground shortly after takeoff dump fuel so as not to exceed the maximum landing weight. This procedure is continuing to cause concern.
Although this fuel dumping usually takes place over water, many people living under flightpaths have remarked that they can smell, even taste, aircraft fuel on some occasions.
Recently a journalist driving on the A3 noticed, what appeared to be, a spray of fuel on his car windscreen. He began to ask questions, which prompted anti-expansion campaigners to take a look at the issue.
When released at high altitude, the kerosene is said to evaporate and, according to the Health Council of the Netherlands (Sept 1999) "hardly affects the air quality in the airports operations system." That year KLM, the dutch airline, dumped 1060 ton of kerosene in this way.
But can it be safe to inhale vapour from aircraft fuel, which includes various additives? Certainly airport workers would be warned of the danger to health of prolonged and repeated exposure to Jet A-1 fuel.
If the fuel enters a watercourse it will be degraded either biologically or chemically. This process reduces the oxygen level in the water, damaging aquatic life.
The most recent investigation into a fuel dumpling incident was concluded on 5th May 2009 by The Washington Department of Ecology who said they wouldn't take enforcement action against Asiana Airlines after one of its aircraft jettisoned 34,200 pounds of jet fuel (about 5,000 gallons) over Puget Sound on 29th April 2009.
Some of the fuel did reach land and water, with residents reporting being sprayed with fuel droplets.
The Department of Ecology said no penalties or fines would be levied because the fuel release occurred as part of an emergency operation to safely land the plane and save lives.
So which type of plane was forced to take emergency action after experiencing engine failure shortly after takeoff? It was a Boeing 777 - the same aircraft that crash landed at Heathrow in January 2008 and is still causing concern. (See website entry 13th March 2009)
People living under flightpaths could have more to worry about than just fuel dumping.
The aftermath of 777 crash at Heathrow
BAA Losses Soar
Date : Tuesday 5th May 2009
BAA has lost £316 million in the first three months of the year alone as passenger numbers dropped and the group's interest payments on its massive £9.5billion debt racked up.
BAA, which operates Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted said losses in the first quarter of 2009 are six times worse than in the same period last year.
We, like everyone else, are wondering when the bottom of the market is......
Colin Matthews, BAA Chief Executive
While passenger numbers have fallen by 10%, BAA's operating costs have soared by 20% - due to the new Terminal 5 and taking on more staff to reduce security queues.
Its interest bill - a legacy of the £15 billion takeover of BAA by Ferrovial three years ago - has quadrupled to £327 million.
On top of all that, the group was forced to take further losses on the writedown in the value of Heathrow's ageing terminals 1 and 2 as well as a charge on its pension scheme.
The 16% rise in revenues to £522 million, aided by a weaker pound and shorter security queues giving passengers more time to spend in the shops, has been wiped out by the losses.
Key Business Leaders speak out against a Third Runway
Date : Monday 4th May 2009
Another sign that the Government is out of touch with opinion has come with the news that a group of key figures in British business have come out publicly against Heathrow expansion.
Russell Chambers, an adviser at Credit Suisee who was instrumental in forming the group, told the Sunday Times: “Many people in business have misgivings about the decision on the third runway, both in terms of the rationale put forward and the environmental impact. It’s possible to be pro-transport, pro-aviation and yet, at the same time, pro responsible citizenship.”
Business leaders who are opposed to a third runway include:
Justin King of J Sainsbury
Charles Dunstone of Carphone Warehouse
Ian Cheshire of Kingfisher
Sir Roy Gardner, chairman of Compass
David Levin, chief executive of United Business Media
Jon Moulton of Alchemy and Dominic Murphy of KKR - two leading players from private equity.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the London Chamber of Commerce have been staunch supporters of a third runway but it is now clear that this view is not shared by all their members.
It follows a split in trade union support for expansion when late last year six trade unions came out against a third runway: UNISON, RMT, TSSA, ASLEF, PCS and CONNECT.