John Whitby, Chairman of Colne Valley Park Community Interest Company has written an open letter to the Government demanding they withdraw their support for Heathrow Airport expansion.
The letter, published on Monday 21st December, comes following the recent Supreme Court ruling which enabled Heathrow Airport Limited to legally proceed with their expansion plans.
In the letter, addressed to the Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps MP, Whitby says that the world has changed dramatically since parliament initially gave expansion the go-ahead:
“The aviation industry has been devastated by the Coronavirus pandemic, causing an unprecedented contraction of air travel. Attitudes to modes of travel generally have fundamentally and permanently altered. Climate change has been properly recognised as a threat, and the urgent need to tackle it universally acknowledged. The vital importance of green spaces for health and well-being have been highlighted as never before”.
Whitby concluded the letter by by urging the Government to end Heathrow's expansion plans.
“We hope the Government will live up to its stated environmental aspirations, scrap the ANPS altogether, and rein in the relentlessly commercial ambitions that will do so much permanent harm to the region around Heathrow Airport”.
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