Heathrow airport expansion will smash our community, say nearby villagers

Campaigners in a village which could be partially demolished to make way for a third runway at Heathrow airport have said the plans could “smash our community”.

Hundreds of homes could be demolished in the west London villages of Harmondsworth and Longford if the expansion gets the green light.

Justine Bayley, who lives in Harmondsworth and is chairwoman of the Stop Heathrow Expansion group, said the scheme risked wiping most of the village.

She told the PA news agency: “It’s inevitable that demolishing hundreds of homes will smash up a community.

“We have two pubs and two shops that would become unviable because of a lack of customers.

“There’s a bus route that would have to disappear because there’s a runway in the way.

“You’d end up with people being left behind … (but) the community would be gone.”

Ms Bayley, who has lived in the village for 30 years, said her home would not be demolished but would be roughly “50 paces” from the boundary of the new runway.

She added: “There is some disbelief that it will actually go ahead.

“It’s not the first time we’ve been here and this is the last in a series of proposals.

“There are many different views in the village and some, particularly those who can’t sell their houses at the moment, are just wanting clarity.

“Some people think any decision is better than no decision.”

The airport wants to build a third runway to raise capacity and boost resilience.

In a speech on Wednesday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves highlighted the scheme among a throng of major projects she said the Government would support.

Ms Reeves later said she wanted to see the expansion completed by 2035 and added the whole Cabinet is “united” behind the plan.

Richard Young, vicar at the St Mary the Virgin church in Harmondsworth, said the plans “cut very deeply” for residents living in what he described as a “tight-knit community”.

He added: “If it went ahead, it would have a devastating effect on the place. The vast majority of it would disappear.

“The church would stay but the community around it would go.

“(The plans) have been talked about for decades and has been a blight hanging over everyone’s heads.

“People can’t move because no one wants to buy their homes.

“People love living here. It’s their home.

“There’s anxiety, fear and anger.

“But there’s also tension because some people hold different views.”