The "NO 3rd Runway" debate in Chiswick - 25th November 2015

Last night there was a wonderful debate about the possible expansion of Heathrow which took place in St Michael & All Angels Church, Bedford Park.

There was a wonderful attendance over roughly 300 residents from the area, including some who live in the homes in Hillingdon that would be knocked down if the runway was expanded.

Gary Malcolm speaking to a packed church hall

The event was chaired by Torin Douglas, the ex-BBC journalist and John Stewart, from HACAN, spoke listing many reasons why expanding Heathrow would be a bad idea.

I also spoke and gave a number of local aspects to Heathrow:

• In a survey conducted by the Liberal Democrats, 65% of Southfield residents were against Heathrow expansion, 10% were undecided and 25% were in favour of expanding Heathrow.

• I referred to an example of where I visited some schools in Hounslow where the kids could not go outside because of the frequent flights and noise they suffered. We should not treat our kids like that. 

• We already fail EU air quality regulations. Any expansion would just add to the number of unnecessary deaths. It appears likely that the EU would not allow Heathrow to expand due to the current and likely future poor quality of air.

• Sadly Ealing Labour Councillors have sat on the fence. They used to be against expansion and I suspect they want to come out in favour but are afraid of the back lack! How a political party can be in favour of Heathrow given the additional noise and air pollution it would cause.

Hundreds holding up anti-expansion posters

Towards the end of my speech I mentioned that an inspiration to me in the campaign against Heathrow expansion, came from the now late, local Chiswick BBC comedy actor Richard Briers (from "The Good Life"). When I visited his house he often had placed a wonderful "anti Heathrow expansion" poster in his window. 

Seeing that gave others a reason to keep fighting. So we all should put posters in our windows.

Well done to the Bedford Park Residents Association who arranged the meeting.

Finally in the next few days before the government make a decision on whether to expand Heathrow or not, please make sure you write a handwritten letter to:

David Cameron, The Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street, London. SW1A 2AA. 

Ealing does not need Heathrow to be expanded

Howard Davies's Airports Commission recently delivered a massive blow to residents in Ealing and West London, when it gave the go ahead to expand Heathrow.

Only the Liberal Democrats have been resolutely against expanding Heathrow, locally, regionally and nationally, as we see our quality of life worsening if there is an increase in air traffic. The additional air and noise pollution will make our lives worse.

I recall visiting a school in Hounslow where the pupils could not play outside due to the planes that there already are. Anymore and we will be causing problems for not just how our children can be educated but their enjoyment of their time at school.

Time at school should be fun and a chance to socialise whilst learning, not avoiding the noise of large planes going over head.

Some residents have mentioned the proposed cap on night flights but I think we know that any expansion will lead to an increased number of people in Acton and Chiswick suffering from flight noise in the short term, to a u-turn and more night flights.

I am also very cynical about whether the airline industry will fund triple glazing or investing in planes that will be much quieter and much more fuel efficient.

By encouraging flights without altering the tax system we are missing the point. We need to both invest in more environmentally friendly methods of transport whilst ensuring that more polluting methods of transport such as airlines pay the correct taxes to pay for the increased environmental damage they cause.

Both the Tories and the Labour parties have said they will accept the commission’s report which was published after the general election to avoid embarrassment to them. Sadly only the Liberal Democrats will be standing up to fight for the residents of Ealing.

I fear that future generations of our children will suffer for the short term greed of our country.

An expanded Heathrow will mean an unacceptable level of noise and air pollution

When it was announced that the Davies Commission will report its findings after the recent General Election it sounded like an excuse to allow a new government to implement change without much legitimacy.

As it currently stands, of the main parties, only the Liberal Democrats are against expanding Heathrow. This is at a local, a regional and a national level.

We believe that an expanded Heathow would bring an unacceptable level of noise and air pollution to Ealing.

Myself seven years ago at Downing Street

The Liberal Democrats in government have been pioneers of investing in increasing more sustainable methods of travel like HS2 and Crossrail. We believe that Councils and the government should do more to encourage cycling.

The Davies Commission is about to make recommendations into expanding air capacity in London and a Conservative Government (or Labour if they had got in) will sadly be inclined to support this proposal.

I suspect that the Conservatives will press ahead with Heathrow expansion.

We hear constantly about triple glazing and quieter planes but we have seen more flights in total and more night flights. The cost of triple glazing millions of properties would not be feasible and the airlines will do anything to avoid this.

We need to think more about the health of our children. The schools I visited in Hounslow had children kept inside due to noise from the planes flying frequently overhead.

Air pollution does not have regard to borough boundaries and so Heathrow generated air pollution will harm us all in London.

That is why retaining Heathrow and not expanding it, is the only option for Ealing and West London.

We need to gather ourselves to stop the government from expanding Heathrow. The health of children in Ealing depends on it.

See where Ealing Council wasted £40,000 of OUR money

At Ealing Council's most important meeting for discussing issues there were a number of topics that were discussed:

• Official - the streets in Southfield are the worst
• Ealing Council wastes £40,000 on a magazine that was not needed
• The legacy of the Olympics and the Paralympics
• Why the Lib Dems are the only party truly against Heathrow expansion

Southfield: 23rd out of 23 wards!
Myself, Councillors Andrew Steed and Harvey Rose and many hundreds of residents have wondered why their streets have been left dirty, litter filled and in need of some TLC. The answer is that the combination of Ealing Council's management of, and their contractor, Enterprise, has been an utter disaster.

Labour: dirty streets

When official figures showed that for September that the streets of Southfield are the dirtiest in the WHOLE borough, then I jumped at the chance to ask what the Leader of the Council will do to ensure Southfield is looked at with more importance. His answer was that he would speak to me afterwards. Hardly an answer. I am still awaiting a full reply. This contractor has been allowed to get away with extremely poor service since April. They should be fined. Perhaps money is all they understand.


Labour's waste of £40,000
Liberal Democrat Councillors Jon Ball and Andrew Steed spoke up against the spending of £40,000 on a magazine (called "Altogether Better") which told residents what they already knew. It did not add anything from Around Ealing which it produces about ten times a year. Labour's top finance spokeswomen said in the debate: "Silly little things like £40,000". I think £40,000 is a lot of money. That could fund the salary of two people to help clean our streets, a teacher or many other things that Ealing would get some benefit from. Instead we saw Labour deny that there is a problem. One one hand it says "We don't have any money" and then it spends £40,000 on a magazine that is not needed.

An Olympic Legacy in Ealing?
Next I raised an item which the chamber agreed with, stating that the Olympics and the Paralympics were a massive success for London and could bring a positive improvement to West London. I did state that Ealing Council has many fine sporting facilities and parks but they need to promote them through the website and other methods so that more kids can get into the habit of playing competitive or non-competitive sports.

This would be great for people's health but also might lead us to more medals in future Olympic Games. I also went to talk about facilities for those who are disabled. We need as a borough, to do more to not just provide access to transport, but to other community facilities as well.

Liberal Democrats against Heathrow expansion

 Liberal Democrats the only party against Heathrow Expansion
With the Conservatives almost likely to change their current official position, and so will be for expanding Heathrow after the next general election in 2015. So no one can trust that promise.

The Liberal Democrats have been consistently against Heathrow expansion. And remember that the Labour party changed their position after the last general election. But their leader Ed Miliband has not said much to make me think he is actively against it. Action not words please.