Heathrow Airport expansion will benefit Yorkshire - here’s how

YOUR recent letter from Paul McGuinness, chair of the No 
3rd Runway Coalition 
(‘Heathrow expansion will not help airports outside London’, The Yorkshire Post, March 7) demonstrates that some people don’t just want different opinions, they want ‘alternative’ facts.

The letter quoted research by the ‘New Economics Foundation’ – an organisation which, by the way, is opposed to Heathrow expansion.

The report was commissioned by the No 3rd Runway Coalition and was an error-filled report, claiming expansion will be subsidised by public money, that ticket prices will rise, carbon emissions will increase costs, and money and jobs will be sucked away from the rest of 
the UK. All of this is just plain wrong.

The truth is that in the last 10 years Heathrow has invested over £12bn in new airport infrastructure.

All without using a single penny of public money.

The report claims that 27,000 jobs will be lost to the regions as workers are drawn to London when, in fact, the project creates up to 180,000 new jobs across the UK, of which 40,000 will be in local boroughs.

Off-site construction centres will provide jobs for tens of thousands of people and ensure that firms in every part of the UK, including Yorkshire, can compete for contracts.

Small wonder that the project won the support of Parliament (with a majority of 296 votes in the Commons) and the support of regional airports, who see the opportunities that connectivity to Heathrow will create for regional economies.

Heathrow is one of the first aviation hubs to become carbon neutral for its infrastructure and the first to target zero carbon by the mid-2030s.

Like 100,000 fellow supporters of the campaign, I’m proud to back sustainable jobs and prosperity – all while tackling carbon emissions.

These are huge benefits for our country and our regions – and that’s a fact.

From: Hazel Maxwell, Harrogate.

IN light of the Heathrow expansion decision (The Yorkshire Post, March 7), does this mean that no new houses ought to be built unless they incorporate renewable energy?

Or that no roads are to be built unless they make (good) provision for cyclists and pedestrians? Let’s hope so! It’s time for action, not just words.