Camden joins the fight against Heathrow Expansion

3.02.00pm GMT Wed 5th Mar 2008

The fight against the third runway is stepping up as opposition to the proposal grows

Liberal Democrat-led Camden and Islington Councils have joined the growing campaign 2M (Two Million Voices) against Heathrow expansion.

Lib Dem MPs Lynne Featherstone and Sarah Teather are also calling for plans for a proposed third runway at Heathrow to be scrapped, as well as Lib Dem Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick. The extra runway would almost double the number of flights using Heathrow.

Camden Eco Champion, Cllr Alexis Rowell, who has been spearheading the campaign to persuade North London Councils to join 2M, said: "A third runway at Heathrow would make it virtually impossible for the UK to hit its current target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60% 2050. Heathrow expansion is a powerful symbol of this Labour government's failure to get to grips with the problem."

The new runway would also mean increased noise pollution with more flights over Hampstead Heath and, for the first time, flights over Regent's Park. The Lib Dem leader of Camden Council Cllr Keith Moffitt, has written to the Government Minister Ruth Kelly expressing the borough's concerns over the proposals.

Cllr Rowell, Friends of the Earth, and others are fighting for aviation and shipping emissions to be included in the forthcoming Climate Change Bill, which is currently being debated in Parliament. Cllr Rowell said: "The Climate Change Bill will set binding five year CO2 emission targets for UK governments. That's good and it's a world first. But at the moment aviation and shipping emissions - two of the economy's fastest growing sectors - are excluded. That's crazy."