Heathrow Airport has made changes to its expansion master plan following consultation.
The changes include introducing improvements to local traffic flows, creating more flood protection, enhancing local landscaping to provide better areas for recreation, and investigating a new site for an-energy-from-waste plant away from the edge of Stanwell, to a location further away from residential buildings.
The airport ssay many of the latest improvements were influenced by specific comments from Spelthorne Council, and residents living in Stanwell and Stanwell Moor.
Existing plans include provision to surround the airport with significant areas of new and enhanced parkland. The updated plans will see this extended to the south of the airport, providing a connected 15 mile corridor of publicly accessible green space, and as part of the ‘green ring’ Stanwell Park would be enhanced, providing better designed landscaping and increasing the amount of recreational land between Stanwell and the proposed car park to the south of the airport, which has been made smaller.
The airport say the investment of £16 billion of private money would provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address issues such as flooding – the rivers Colne and Wraysbury broke their banks earlier this year.
The balancing ponds proposed for south or west of the airport might move closer to the village of Stanwell Moor and become a “community asset” through landscaping alongside a new park and a new all-weather sports pitch.
Colnbrook and Poyle would benefit from the creation of a new bypass to replace the existing A3044, routing traffic around the villages and easing the congestion they currently experience. Congestion would further be alleviated for local communities and emissions reduced through widening parts of the airport’s Southern Perimeter Road and a series of grade separated junctions introduced at certain roundabouts.
Sesignated “HGV routes” would be put in place from the M25, M3 and M4, aiming to ensure that the airport’s plans to create “world-class consolidated cargo handling facilities which would enhance Heathrow’s role as the UK’s most important port for high value goods”, do not result in additional goods vehicles on unsuitable local roads.
John Holland-Kaye, Chief Executive of Heathrow said: “The expansion of Heathrow can bring significant benefits for local people as well as the UK economy. As well as bringing 50,000 new jobs for local people and 10,000 apprenticeships, we can also improve the environmental landscape around the airport and mitigate some of today’s problems including local road congestion and the impacts of flooding. We are listening and continue to improve our plans based on the feedback we receive. ”
Roberto Tambini, CEO of Spelthorne Council, said: “We are delighted that Heathrow has listened to and acted upon our feedback in creating its updated expansion plans and that the residents of Spelthorne have been offered an improved deal as a result.
“I am sure that we can work together and that Heathrow will continue to listen to Spelthorne residents and demonstrate a flexible approach to future proposals.”
