'Nobody has the right to destroy somebody else's life for their own pleasure'

Armelle Thomas, 80, who has lived in Harmondsworth for 57 years, believes that the plans would destroy the lives of up to 16,000 residents. 

She said: "You cannot have that kind of activity on destroying more than two villages.” 

Armelle believes the stress caused by the years of uncertainty contributed to her husband's death. 

Her experience of what she called frequent harassment took the form of constant letters, emails and questions asked of her in person about her home. 

Her husband died a few weeks after being told by letter that their house would be demolished if the plans went ahead in 2015. 

Armelle said: “He died of a broken heart.” 

Her diagnosis of cancer that is end of life, Armelle believes is because of the harassment of the airport.

She reckons that the impact is causing issues for everyone in the village, and said: “It is a lot of stress which (I believe) is causing cancer, it is causing heart attacks, lack of sleep, our children are 2 years behind in school because of the noise, they can’t learn.”

The flights that take off from the airport are well known to Armelle. She made mention to many of them in our conversation and let me know that there are 31 daily flights to New York. That is one every half an hour just from Heathrow across 24 hours.  

The future of the children is what Armelle is most worried about. She said: “We have children who live in our villages whose lives are being destroyed, it is their future or lack of that we are losing.” 

“Nobody has the right to destroy somebody else's life for their own pleasure.” 

I don't want to leave

Lesley O’Brien, has lived in the area since 1971. Her home would be knocked down for the third runway.

She said: “I don’t know where I will go, I haven't the faintest idea. I don’t know where I would start again.” 

Lesley, who lives alongside neighbours Andrew and Armelle, loves the village and doesn’t want to move. 

She said:“I am very happy living in Harmondsworth, I have got very good friends that help each other out, it is a very good community,” 

Lesley also cited traffic as a reason to oppose the plans, she said: “The traffic around here is already terrible. If we have another runway there will be even more problems with traffic.”

The village is home for Lesley and it was clear she really didn’t want to have to think about moving anywhere else.

She said: “I don’t want to move from here, I have friends and things I do here. I brought my family up here, it is a lovely village and I don’t want to leave.” 

Her friends in the village are all over 70 with one man over 90 and lots in their 80s.

She is worried about where herself and her friends are going to go as it would be a big move for them at their age. 

The uncertainty remains at the forefront of all of their minds and they continue to fight against the plans that are debated in Parliament. 

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Support for the runway

Whilst residents of Harmondsworth fight to oppose the third runway one group believes it will create thousands of jobs and boost the local economy. 

Communications officer at Back Heathrow Miles Bennet, said: “A third runway will create thousands more local jobs and apprenticeships and will add an extra £17.5 billion a year to the economy.”

Bennet cited the need for the expansion due to the upward trend in passenger numbers. He said: “Additional demand is creating more jobs. The only thing holding Heathrow back is the fact that it is constrained by only having two runways.”

In response to the complaints of the villagers Bennet said: “Part of the reason we back the plans is because meeting targets for air quality, noise reduction and the Paris Agreement on carbon reduction are all baked into the plans.”

However it is clear that this decision will not be made lightly or be enacted quickly. He said: “Despite huge local support and a majority of 296 MPs in Parliament voting in favour of it, that all seemed to be ignored by endless court challenges.”

Opposition to the runway

However a group that Andrew, Lesley and Armelle are involved with named No 3rd Runway Coalition, set up in 2017, disagrees with the claims made by the Back Heathrow group. 

Rob Barnstone, coordinator at the group, said: “I simply don’t believe a third runway is deliverable. The money isn’t adding up.” 

Not only is it undeliverable in his opinion, the potential effects would be far-reaching. 

Rob said: “Around another 2 million people would be affected by the 3rd runway. It is a scale that is not comparable to any other project” 

He maintained that health issues which have already affected villagers would be much worse. 

With sleep disturbance, cardio vascular issues and unsociable hours all adding to the existing issues in Harmondsworth. 

When asked about the support side for the runway he said: “People who do support it are not people that have really looked into it. They are not people that have been impacted by it.”

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