Heathrow expansion may destroy medieval village
LONDON — With its classic red phone booth, pub, and medieval church, Harmondsworth looks quintessentially British. But the search for a wee English village isn’t what brings millions of people within a stone’s throw of its boundaries.
The attraction is neighbouring Heathrow Airport, which served 73 million travellers last year. Now Europe’s busiest airport is proposing to build a runway roughly through the centre of town, levelling the ivy covered brick walls of the Harmondsworth Hall guest house and two-thirds of its homes. A village that traces its history to the 6th century would be forever altered, and some argue even what’s left would be uninhabitable.
“There’s no compensation package that would interest me,” said Neil Keveren, who chairs a local community group opposed to the expansion. “We have a historic village with buildings that go back 600 years. You cannot replace that.”
Harmondsworth is under threat because London and southeastern England need more airport capacity to meet the growing demands of business travellers and tourists. Heathrow and rival Gatwick, 50 kilometres south of central London, have offered competing projects that will cost as much as $35 billion. Whichever proposal is selected, homes will be destroyed and surviving neighbourhoods will have to cope with increased noise, pollution and traffic.
The issue is so toxic that politicians created an independent commission to weigh the options. Government officials then postponed a decision until after the May 7 election, effectively taking the matter off the political agenda, if but briefly.
Making the right decision is crucial as London seeks to retain a competitive edge.
In a globalized world, airports offer the opportunity for investment bankers, lawyers, consultants and engineers to make face-toface connections in major markets where deals are made, said John Kasarda, director of the centre for air commerce at the University of North Carolina’s KenanFlagler Business School.
“This is contact sport, particularly at the global level,” Kasarda said. “This isn’t done over the net.”
And the ability to move — and connect — faster makes a country and its economy more competitive. Opting not to expand is tacit acknowledgment the government is willing to have some of those jobs go to a competitor.