Greenpeace volunteers attended the final Heathrow consultation exhibition today to let the public know that the whole process is a sham - ignoring the threat of climate change in favour of the quick profits to be made from airport expansion.
Wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan 'This consultation is fixed: ask me how' they moved among members of the public during the event at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre near Parliament Square, handing out spoof 'Airfixed' model boxes. Inside each "Consultation Collusion Kit" were assembly instructions for models of Gordon Brown and BAA Chief Executive Stephen Nelson. The instructions read:
- carefully remove all references to climate change
- make sure the interests of BAA (British Airports Authority) and BA (British Airways) are placed in position first
- attach misleading guarantees on noise and air pollution
- cut out public opinion from consultation and discard
- fly your planes to climate disaster
Assembly instructions
See how Gordon Brown and BAA's boss fit together
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This was our response to evidence uncovered by our researchers of extraordinary collusion between the government and BAA to ensure that expansion plans for Heathrow Airport get the go-ahead. Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act we found out that they've set up a joint body - the Heathrow Delivery Group - to try and influence the outcome of the consultation into whether a third runway should be built at what is already Europe's busiest airport.
The consultation document itself is heavily biased, presenting leading commentary on the economic benefits of Heathrow expansion, and down-playing the effects of the proposed expansion on the climate and on Londoners. It's also nigh on unreadable - the Plain English Campaign branded its wording "atrocious".
Not surprising, perhaps, given that BAA officials were allowed to write parts of it themselves, and to supply the data for calculations of noise and pollution that will play a key role in determining the outcome. Crucially, opposition groups have not been permitted to challenge this data.
So far, so bad. But it gets worse. The evidence put forward within the consultation is confusing and incomplete, making it impossible for people to make an informed response to the consultation. And even if they wanted to, thousands of people living under the flightpaths have been denied the opportunity to have their voices heard because they were not sent the documents outlining the plans.
The government has been extremely vocal in its support for further development at Heathrow: last November Gordon Brown told the CBI that he was determined "to press ahead with a third runway". And Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said in a speech to the Aviation Operators Association in the same month that she wasn't "prepared to accept" a situation which didn't include expanding Heathrow. Why are they so convinced? When pressed, they are eager to point out the "strong economic benefits" to the country which expansion will bring.
But there's a big flaw in their logic - most of the new traffic made possible by the third runway will be short-haul tourist flights taking British holidaymakers to the sun or on a city-break: the UK already has an annual tourism deficit of £17 billion (Press Association, January 3 2006) as a result of this type of travel - surely more of the same can only result in that deficit growing ever larger?
Whatever their reasons, they are determined to force this one through. So determined, in fact, that the Department for Transport (DfT) and BAA have drawn up a 'risk list' to counter any threats to the building of the third runway. Greenpeace is on it of course, as one of the 'usual suspects', but more worryingly so is the 2M campaign, the group comprising London councils representing 2 million local people opposed to the plans. And given the announcement late last week that all four leading candidates for the forthcoming London mayoral election have joined forces to oppose Heathrow expansion, it can't be long before their names are also added to the list.
See the evidence for yourself (Adobe PDF format).