Response to final consultation

The final consultation for Heathrow expansion took place from 18 June to 13 September 2019.

Spelthorne Council's response - September 2019

For further information on the airport expansion visit https://aec.heathrowconsultation.com/ 

For the latest council press releases visit here or specific releases listed below;

Summary of Overview and Scrutiny Meeting on Heathrow Expansion - 3 September 2019

Historically Spelthorne Council has supported Heathrow and the principle of a new North West runway, due to the wider economic benefits it brings to the borough. However, the Council has always been very clear that this cannot be at the expense of local communities or the environment. Back in December 2016 when the most recent motion in support of Heathrow expansion was agreed, there was no detail around what this might look like and how it might impact on the borough, and the communities of Stanwell Moor and Stanwell in particular.

Heathrow's current Airport Expansion Consultation has provided some detail, particularly on the significant level of development that HAL say is required to run an expanded airport. This presents significantly greater issues for the borough. The gateway to Heathrow will switch from the north to the south west, with significant levels of new built development proposed to fall within our boundary. There are also a number of key areas where information is either scant or missing, which is hampering our ability to measure the true impact.

These issues were discussed in full at a lengthy extraordinary Overview and Scrutiny (O and S) meeting on 3 September (at which all councillors were invited to make the committee aware of the impact of the proposed expansion on their ward).

During the debate on a series of key issues, O and S agreed to recommend to Cabinet that they supported the principle of a third runway, on the basis of the economic benefits that expansion would bring. However, they recommended that the third runway should only happen if Heathrow agreed to cap the future growth of the airport to no more than 740,000 air traffic movements (ATM's) each year by 2040. The committee were also explicit in recommending there should be no increase in flights from 480,000 up to 505,000 ATMs before the building of a third runway.

The vast majority of the debate focused on the current form that the expansion is proposed to take, and its impact on Stanwell Moor, Stanwell and the rest of the borough. It was crystal clear to the committee that there were very real issues around the scale of development proposed. In light of this, they agreed a recommendation go to Cabinet that Heathrow be give a list of demands which they had to address to the Councils' satisfaction in order for the Council to be able to support expansion. These were:

  • third runway, with capped growth of 740,000 Air Traffic Movements per annum by 2040
  • that the expansion should include Heathrow T5X and T2 only, with further consideration given to the Heathrow West scheme
  • that any increase in car parking must be at the Northern Parkway or along Bath Road only
  • there must be no Southern Parkway, no Truck Park, no HGV filling station or associated lorry movements to the Crooked Billet, and Heathrow need to move new and re-aligned roads further away from Stanwell Moor
  • deliver a genuine 'world class' integrated compensation and mitigation package, including Wider Property Offer Zone for Stanwell Moor and part of Stanwell village
  • to provide enhanced multi-purpose community halls for Stanwell Moor and Stanwell village as a positive legacy for the communities
  • commitment to deliver 1,500 new apprenticeships for local colleges within the borough (Brooklands College in Ashford)
  • controlled Parking Zones for Stanwell Moor, Stanwell village, and Ashford north of A308 and other areas as deemed appropriate by the Council - to be in place by the time the third runway is operational and to be funded in full by Heathrow
  • Southern Light Rail (SLR) to be built before the third runway is operational, and for the Council to work positively with Heathrow to ensure that they deliver
  • no construction sites at CS10 or CS11 operating 24/7 365 days a year north of Stanwell and Stanwell Moor
  • deliver continuous improvement and enhanced mitigation to neutralise air quality impacts to below legal limits on local communities
  • comply with the Committee on Climate Change Further Ambitions Scenario (in order to deliver a reduction to 30 million tonnes CO2 in 2050)
  • deliver continuous improvement by actively and directly reducing noise levels for aircraft and the airport (using 2013 baseline)
  • night flights to be banned for 8 hours overnight, except for emergencies (World Health Organisation guidelines)
  • Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) must be outside the borough
  • protect Staines Moor in perpetuity and ensure no changes to the River Colne upstream which might have an adverse impact on the biodiversity of the SSSI

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Last modified: 19/09/2025