Events Archive - 2009
A Wave of Climate Change protesters floods Central London
Date : Saturday 5th December 2009
Location : Westminster, London
50,000 Climate Protesters take to the streets in London.
Apple tree planting in West London shows solidarity with Sipson
Date : Saturday 14th November 2009
Location : Lampton Park, Hounslow
Twinning apple tree with those at the Airplot Orchard
Apple orchard planted on Sipson Airplot
Date : Friday 13th November 2009
Location : Airplot
Apple Tree planting in West London.
"We Stay United, We Stay Together" - MP holds public meeting in Sipson
Date : Thursday 29th October 2009
Location : Heathrow School Hall, Sipson
John McDonnell MP outlines the strategy to protect local communities
Heathrow villages resident joins activists at PR Awards protest
Date : Tuesday 20th October 2009
Location : Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London
Plane Stupid activists joined guests at the PR Week Awards at Grosvenor House in Park Lane and took over the table allocated for Virgin Atlantic.
Rare chance to see Harmondsworth's threatened Great Barn
Date : Weekend 19th and 20th September 2009
Location : Great Barn, Harmondsworth.
Opportunities to view the magnificent 15th-century Great Barn in Harmondsworth are rare so this year's Open House weekend is a very special event.
Climate Rush on the run in Sipson
Date : Friday 4th and Saturday 5th September 2009
Location : The Greenpeace Airplot in Harmondsworth Lane.
The suffragette-style activists of Climate Rush have packed their bags and set off on an epic month-long tour starting in Sipson.
Climate Camp lands at Blackheath
Date : Wednesday 26th August 2009
Location : Blackheath, South East London
Environmental Activists protest in London.
Campaigners have a Big Lunch on site of third runway
Date : Sunday 19th July 2009
Location : Airplot Allotment, Sipson
Airplot, the Greenpeace land in Sipson with over 50,000 "owners", was the venue for a NoTRAG picnic organised as part of The Big Lunch initiative.
No Third Runway message reaches tens of thousands at Glastonbury
A No Third Runway film made by Greenpeace was shown before the main bands appearing on the massive Pyramid Stage during the Glastonbury Festival - attended by around 200,000 people.
Threatened villagers promote Airplot campaign at Glastonbury
Three residents fighting to save the Heathrow villages from a third runway accepted an invitation to promote Greenpeace's Airplot campaign at this year's Glastonbury festival.
Date : Weekend 25th-28th June 2009
Location : Glastonbury Festival
Plane Stupid strikes at London's City Airport
Date : Wednesday 10th June 2009
Location : London City Airport.
As a tube strike crippled the capital and workers struggled to make their daily journey, jet-setting businessmen were inconvenienced by a Plane Stupid protest at London's City Airport.
Euro Flashmob to pop into Terminal One
Date : Saturday 16th May 2009
Location : Heathrow Airport Terminal 1
Campaigners against airport expansion are linking up across Europe with co-ordinated flashmobs in at least six countries on the day of the Eurovision Song Contest - Saturday, 16th May.
As well as the flashmob at Heathrow, there will be similar events in Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Brussels and Dublin.
Promptly at noon, participants will reveal their red T-shirts and enjoy a peaceful and fun sing-a-long of Eurovision classics. (The event will be finished by one o'clock.)
NoTRAG is hoping you'll be "Making Your Mind Up" to join us in Terminal One departures and show the aviation industry that they've met their "Waterloo". Song sheets will be provided but feel free to download your favourite Eurovision song on your ipod or mobile.
We want BAA to get in tune with public opinion. Everyone is saying, "No Third Runway!"
So dust off your dancing shoes, dig out your glitter wig and dress up to disco. Let's party!
Richard Briers digs for victory on Airplot
Date : Tuesday 12th May 2009
Location : Airplot Allotment, Sipson
Richard Briers, star of classic eco sit-com The Good Life, was joined by Alys Fowler, presenter of BBC's Gardeners' World.
Planted fruit trees and vegetables on the site of the proposed third runway.
Activists Adopt-a-Resident to beat the bulldozers
Date : Monday 30th March 2009
Location : Harmondsworth Village
Should they be needed, activists have pledged to stand together with their adopted residents and fight attempts to remove them from their homes.
Protest at Downing Street
Date : Thursday 19th February 2009 (5:30pm - 7:00pm)
Location : Downing Street
Third Runway - No Way! Protesters will be gathering opposite Downing Street to take that message to Gordon Brown at 5.30pm-7pm on Thursday 19th February.
The protest, organised by the Campaign against Climate Change, aims to tell Gordon Brown that his decision to expand Heathrow is the height of irresponsibility when scientists are warning of the consequences of increasing emissions of greenhouse gases.
Open Day at Greenpeace Plot
Date : Saturday 17th February 2009 (2:00pm - 5:00pm)
Location : Sipson
Over 30,000 people have signed up to Airplot - the land in Sipson that Greenpeace has purchased to thwart BAA plans to build a runway on it.
If you are one of them, or are thinking about it, you might like to pop down to Sipson and take a look on Saturday afternoon.
Greenpeace are opening the site to the public from 2pm-5pm. You can take a look at the plot and chat to some of the people who are working to make this a focal point in the campaign - with the large white lettering, "Our Climate Our Land", visible form the air.
There is a pub next door, the King William IV, if you need to thaw out!
Watch this space .........
Date : ...................
Location : ...............
There will be a number of small events coming up to publicise events surrounding the campaign to stop the third runway.
For example, on Wednesday, 28th January 2009, protesters turned up at Parliament with 57 red balloons to remind the 57 rebel MPs that they should vote for the motion put forward in the Conservative's opposition debate.
While most simply posed for cameras and generated interest amongst the MPs, a small group of Climate Rush suffragettes chained themselves to railings. It was a lively morning.
If you can spare some time and want to get more involved, watch this space for forthcoming events. This is your chance to help step up the campaign.
Look forward to seeing you.
Hayes and Harlington MP completes first round of Public Meetings.
Date : See Text
Location : See Text
John McDonnell MP, whose constituency would be devastated by a third runway, is organising a rolling programme of community meetings to keep local people informed and get them more involved in the campaign.
The first three meetings were in Sipson on Saturday 17th January 2009, Harlington on Sunday 18th January and Hayes on Thursday 22 January.
The MP, who was suspended from the House of Commons for lifting the mace in an outburst against the Transport Secretary, is working with fellow MPs and campaign groups like NoTRAG to step up the fight against Heathrow expansion.
Mayors Public Meeting exposes feeble argument for Runway
Date : Thursday 21st January 2009
Location : Beck Theatre, Hayes
The Mayor's public meeting at the Beck Theatre in Hayes on 21st January, exposed the feeble arguments for a third runway, with only two people prepared to defend the runway on the panel and only two supporters in the packed 600-seat auditorium.
Mayor Boris Johnson had invited Prime Minister Gordon Brown to the meeting but his invitation remained unanswered and his seat was left empty. The organisers struggled to find anyone prepared to defend the government's decision. This was left to Lord Soley from the aviation-industry funded Future Heathrow and Frank Wingate, Chief Executive of West London Business.
Putting the case against the runway were: Zac Goldsmith, former editor of The Ecologist Magazine and Conservative parliamentary candidate; Cllr Ray Puddifoot, leader of Hillingdon Council and the Mayor himself.
Cllr Richard Barnes, Hillingdon councillor and Deputy Mayor, chaired the event, which began with questions from residents of Sipson, Harlington and Harmondsworth. While this was an excellent way to start the debate, both Wingate and Soley never gave answers, preferring to trot out the same old stuff they spout in TV interviews.
Questions that never got answers included: Where do Mr Wingate and Mr Soley live? Having said that the road map in the Consultation document wasn't where the roads would be, why wouldn't anyone reveal the true location? Knowing that taxpayers would have to fund the rebuilding of schools, council houses, community facilities etc, what was the true cost of building the third runway?
Frank Wingate accused residents of putting their own interests above those of the country. When a Harmondsworth resident showed her husband's war medals, earned for his service in the RAF, she demonstrated clearly that residents do care about their country and asked what Mr Wingate and Clive Soley had ever done. Again, no answer.
When Cllr Barnes asked for questions for supporters of the runway, only two hands went up. One lady said the runway was needed for jobs. Lord Soley had stated that, without a runway, Heathrow would lose business to Europe and there would be no reason for it to exist. He said he could give residents silence but it would be the silence of an area with no airport.
A second lady was sure a runway would benefit the country but could not explain further.
No businessmen in favour of the runway turned up to the meeting, despite Mr Wingate claiming that a large percentage wanted it. (Based, he claimed, on an independent poll - he did not say how many were polled or how they were chosen, which would have an impact on the result. Lord Soley also said a poll showed that residents wanted it, while he carefully avoided giving details of the poll.)
The meeting showed the strength of feeling against the runway and the feebleness of the argument in favour. Frank Wingate and Lord Soley should learn at least one thing from the meeting - opposition to the runway is as strong as ever and threatening residents with the demise of Heathrow and mass unemployment is a tactic that won't work.
Terminal Five Flashmob
Date : Saturday 17th January 2009
Location : Terminal Five, Heathrow
Following the government's announcement on Thursday, 15th January, a flash mob went ahead on Saturday, 17th January - and everyone had a ball!
At 12 noon hundreds of protesters revealed their red Stop Heathrow Expansion T-shirts. While four women from Artport, a group using art to make their point, stripped to the waist and painted their bodies red.
Carrying on the red theme, red foam balls painted with the word "No" were thrown at a Geoff Hoon lookalike (a series of brave volunteers wearing Hoon masks.)
The festive atmosphere continued with a whole bunch of protesters in Gordon Brown masks causing climate chaos with an inflatable globe.
And a member of NoTRAG dressed in her Climate Rush Suffragette outfit to repeat
Events Calendar
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Events Slideshow
Pictures taken at Events that NoTRAG either organised or have attended in the past few years.
Air Plot 2009
Over 30,000 people have signed up to Airplot - the land in Sipson that Greenpeace has purchased to thwart BAA plans to build a runway on it. With large white lettering, "Our Climate Our Land", is visible from the air.
There is a pub next door, the King William IV, if you need to thaw ...... from the inside out!
European Flash Mob 2009
Campaigners against airport expansion are linking up across Europe with co-ordinated flashmobs in at least six countries on the day of the Eurovision Song Contest - Saturday, 16th May.
Big Lunch 2009
Date : Sunday 19th July 2009
Glastonbury 2009
A mock-up of Sipson was created on the Greenpeace plot at Glastonbury. Here are some of the pictures that were taken.
Cherry Lane Cemetery 2009
Two solemn processions of "mourners" took place on Saturday 2nd May 2009 to show respect for the dead, something that the government has disregarded with its plans to drive a road through Cherry Lane Cemetery.