Heathrow Airport unveils an ambitious masterplan

A village will be demolished and roads and rivers will have to be diverted if a new masterplan for Heathrow Airport in London is accepted. 

A 12-week consultation started this week on expansion plans, including a new runway.

Members of the public will be able to have their say on planned development and on how the airport intends to manage the environmental impacts, Travel Mole reports.

The plans would involve demolishing nearly 800 homes, including the entire village of Longford, diverting rivers and moving roads, including the M25, which would run through a tunnel under the new runway.

Heathrow's masterplan proposes an 'Ultra Low Emissions Zone', access charge for vehicles and a 6.5-hour ban on scheduled night flights.

It also includes property compensation, noise insulation, and a community fund.

The new runway would open in 2026 with the project completing by around 2050.

Emma Gilthorpe, Heathrow's executive director for expansion, said: "Expansion must not come at any cost. That is why we have been working with partners at the airport, in local communities and in Government to ensure our plans show how we can grow sustainably and responsibly - with environmental considerations at the heart of expansion.

"This consultation is an opportunity for people to have their say on our preferred masterplan, so it's really important that as many people as possible take part. We look forward to hearing people's views."

Jackie Clark, chair of Stop Heathrow Expansion, said: "We will continue working with a group of local authorities, the Mayor of London and others taking legal action against a third runway and remain confident that at the next stage of the process we will successfully stop these disastrous proprosals for our community from ever taking off at the planning stage in the process."

Heathrow Airport is the second busiest in the world after Dubai.