Hello all,

 

We have had some disappointing news: Cllr Furey*, Addlestone, has tabled a motion to support Heathrow expansion (you will recall that the council only recently changed their position on Heathrow at a meeting in January 2015). Your attendance and support is – once again – vitally needed at this crucial time (details at bottom of this email).

 

Some councillors seem determined not to listen to the very sensible arguments put forward against airport expansion – which we heard so clearly articulated by Cllrs Taylor, Kusneraitis, Gilham, Prescott etc at the recent committee meeting that determined RBC’s position.

 

It is disappointing to note that Cllr Furey cites the ‘social and economic’ benefits of expansion at Heathrow. To date, none of the councillors who trot this line out have been able to quantify or qualify what exactly these benefits are for local residents. Whereas the disadvantages for those of us in the borough have been clearly laid out (full details can be obtained from the EG response to the Davies Report which you can find on our website www.stopegtrials.com ).

 

It is also interesting to note that Cllr Furey has – once again – included the word mitigation in his motion. Hiding behind the spurious term of mitigation just is not acceptable when the the adverse affects can be clearly seen. Even the Surrey County Council submission in response to the Davies Report states that any ‘mitigation’ needs to be clearly defined before the council can support expansion. There seems to be considerable disarray amongst some parts of the council.

 

There remains the fear that the council is prepared to abandon constituents and residents in North Runnymede (Egham, Thorpe) and particularly those who are especially hard-hit in parts of Englefield Green for some nebulous notion of benefit for the greater borough. Every day more evidence surfaces that calls in to question Heathrow’s integrity regarding expansion e.g. The disclosure that £17m has been spent on expansion propaganda; the findings of the ASA that Heathrow-backed advertising was misleading and not founded on fact; that EU air standards will be breached at Heathrow by 2030 – even without a 3rd runway http://www.airportwatch.org That parts of our council are refusing to acknowledge the evidence is of great concern.

 

We had a packed public gallery in January when this last went to vote – and it was clear that those in attendance were passionately against expansion and backed the committee’s decision.  PLEASE do all you can to attend the full council meeting on Thursday 5th March at 1930 at the RBC offices, Station Road, Addlestone KT15 2AH as, once again, attendance is so important.

 

Please spread the word – that would be really helpful. Also, please lobby your councillors: although we can count on the support of Cllrs Taylor, Prescott and Kusneraitis, it would be helpful to make your views known to Cllr Meares – and others outside of EG.

 

Best wishes,

 

Jane

* If you are unaware of Cllr Furey, google him for more info