This debate and entire conversation seems to have been going on for many years, and the truth is it has. The UK is in desperate need to expand its airports services around London and the two main choices were either Gatwick or Heathrow.
There was huge opposition to both projects, especially from residents on the ground that are going to be affected by the expansion plans. At one stage it looked as if the third runway was just pie in the sky and never going to get off the ground. However as of 25 October 2016 the first major hurdle has been overcome with government approving the go ahead of Heathrow runway number 3.
The current Transport Secretary Chris Grayling called the decision “truly momentous” and went on to say that the project will create hundreds of jobs during its construction and afterwards.
But not all of the government bigwigs are behind the project, with one of the most vocal opponents being the ex Mayor of London and now Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson. He simply said that the vote for a third runway at Heathrow was ‘unbelievable’.
There are many other opponents to the airport expansion across west London with the current Mayor of London Sadiq Khan suggesting that the whole project was the wrong choice for both London and the UK in general.
There is a long way to go before any construction can begin and there is expected to be resignations, petitions and strong verbal challenges from MP’s and the public.
The construction, if it does finally go ahead is not expected to begin until at least 2020 and the project would not be expected to be completed until 2025. Before all of that there is another vote due 2017/2018 where it will be decided whether it rolls forward as planned.
So right now the third runway for Heathrow is a lot of talk ad puffing of chests, yes a vote has been won by the government but it is only the first battle in a long war with opposition set to mount day by day.