3,000 join airport runway protest

12 April 2012

Thousands of protesters from around the world staged a protest march to oppose any further expansion of Heathrow airport.

Event organiser Tamsin Omond heralded the demonstration a success. "We've had 3,000 people make the effort to come out here and tell the government we don't want a third runway. And it's not just the usual suspects."

Comparing the event to last year's Climate Camp protest where demonstrators clashed with riot police, she said: "This is a real diverse mix and that's important. It's been such a great atmosphere and everybody has had a lot of fun."

But Ms Omond warned the government there was serious intent behind the protest. She said: "The people have become politically active and if the government doesn't reverse its policy people will become politically frustrated. The third runway will not be built - I'm talking civil disturbance."

The demonstrators walked from Hatton Cross to Sipson, the village that will be lost if plans for a third runway at the west London airport go ahead.

At Sipson, the protesters gathered in a field to form a huge "NO" that should be visible to passing aircraft. Politicians and environmentalists addressed the crowds and bands played.

Many people travelled from across Europe to be part of the demonstration. Anna Serdaris, 50, from Athens, said: "We have the same problem at Athens airport and I felt I needed to show my support. It's ironic that I've had to fly here this morning to protest against airport expansion but people need to listen!"

London's deputy mayor, Richard Barnes, gave a speech to the protesters halfway through the march. Barnes apologised that London mayor Boris Johnson could not be there in person but said he was fully behind the campaign.

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace gave their backing to the demonstration. Executive director John Sauven personally attended the march and said: "If everybody took trains to Manchester, Paris, Scotland and Brussels rather than flying then the third runway would not even be necessary."

The Archbishop of Canterbury also backed protesters and a letter from Dr Rowan Williams was read out to protesters. It said: "Concern for our environment is a clear imperative arising from the respect we owe to creation and to each other. So questions of airport expansion, like all developments at risk, increasing the damage we do to our global environment (which still impacts hardest on the poorest) cannot be considered uncritically, or in a morality-free zone."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT