Minority groups get say on Heathrow decision

The long-running consultation on the future extension of Heathrow airport has entered its latest phase with the Department for Transport seeking feedback from minority groups on the environmental impact of the proposed expansion and third runway.

As previously announced in a statement to Parliament on the July 8, transport ministers today kicked-off a consultation process that seeks to find out how the development of Heathrow, including a potential third runway, may affect different groups living near the airport.

"The EqIA [Equalities Impact Assessment] will ensure we fully understand how airport development might affect different groups around Heathrow by reason of their race, disability, age or level of income," said aviation minister Jim Fitzpatrick. "It will look specifically at whether there are groups of individuals who would feel the effects of development more keenly, either positively or negatively, as a result of their particular sensitivity to the impacts."

The EqIA will form part of a wider consultation on whether expansion of Heathrow will be allowed to go ahead. A Department for Transport spokesman said a decision on the airport's future development is expected by the end of the year.

The EqIA will look at how groups such as the very young and old, racial minorities and people with disabilities may be affected by issues such as local noise and air pollution resulting from an expansion of Heathrow. However, it will be limited to localised environmental impact and will not include the effects of carbon emissions and other climate change issues on minority groups, and the public as a whole, according to a Department for Transport spokesman.

"The wider environmental affects of the expansion at Heathrow are covered in the main consultation document which we did last year," he said. "Noise and air quality were both covered in last year's document but this looks at their effects on what the government calls equalities groups."

Part of the EqIA has already been conducted by an independent consultancy, Scott Wilson, and their assessment report can be found in Annex 3 of the consultation document. Almost 70,000 individuals and organisations, responded to the Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport consultation, which the DfT says it is currently analysing. The EqIA will form part of the final Heathrow Impact Assessment, which will be published alongside the final decision on Heathrow expected at the end of this year.

Environmental groups and other organisations are campaigning against any expansion of Heathrow. According to Friends of the Earth, a third runway at Heathrow will mean a 70 per cent increase in passengers by 2030 and will make the UK's targets on climate change virtually impossible to meet.