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Heathrow Expansion Likely To Harm Residents' Careers Future

Mon, 30 Jul 2007

The ongoing saga surrounding the expansion of Heathrow Airport has taken another twist after one campaigner claimed the health fears associated with living under the Heathrow flightpath will make local residents "thick".

Hounslow resident John Murphy, a campaigner for 18 years, said that children are not setting their standards high enough because working at the airport proves to be such an easy and convenient option.

"The expansion plans are ridiculous and I'm not convinced that our workforce benefits. If anything, it is encouraging kids to put in less effort at school because they know they can get jobs working as cleaners or scrubbing dishes at Heathrow, which need little or no qualifications," he commented.

In response to the claims, Andrew Wolstenholme, capital projects director of BAA, said: "We aim to provide first-class learning resources to add real value to the curriculum in local schools."

"Our new Heathrow: Careers and Economy resource pack has been designed to bring learning alive for local students," he added.

Heathrow Airport employs over 70,000 people, making it the largest single site employer in the UK . More than 30,000 staff members live locally and many of the young people currently studying at local schools will work at Heathrow at some point in the future.

At a health meeting at the Civic Centre earlier this month, Councillor Barbara Reid, Hounslow's lead member for aviation issues, earlier in the month called for the Government to undertake a health impact assessment on the residents of Hounslow .

"The Government is preparing to embark on the biggest programme of airport expansion this country has ever seen and yet it has no idea what damage this will do to the health of millions of people living under flightpaths in the UK," she said.
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