MP: taxpayers could pay for Heathrow runway
17.06.09
Taxpayers could end up subsidising the £9bn bill for Heathrow's third runway because of the ‘precarious’ finances of the airport's operator, an MP said. Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament, Hayes & Harlington MP John McDonnell suggested it could happen if BAA went into administration. However, a BAA spokesman reiterated that the cost of developing Heathrow ‘will be met by the private sector’.
Mr McDonnell, a Labour MP whose constituency includes Heathrow, talking about plans for a special administration scheme for airports planned by the Government, said: ‘We now believe there will be direct subsidy as a result of BAA's precarious financial position and the precarious financial position of Grupo Ferrovial globally (BAA's parent company) and that we will have to actually subsidise the development itself, the construction of the runway and the terminal.’
Responding to the MP's comments, BAA said: ‘We have consistently said that the cost of developing Heathrow to the standard of every one of its European competitors will be met by the private sector, and that remains the case. It is entirely disingenuous of Mr McDonnell to make a connection between a draft government proposal on special administration for all regulated airports and the funding of a third runway at Heathrow.’
Mr McDonnell also suggested that up to 10,000 people will be forced out of their homes if a planned third runway at Heathrow goes ahead, it has been claimed. He said that ‘the largest evacuation of people in living memory’ would be needed.
He added: ‘We know from the Government's figures that 2,000 people will be relocated, but more likely it will be 10,000 - the largest evacuation of people in living memory, given what we know from studies done in the 1990s. The Government's response up until now has been that it is up to individuals themselves to plan their future.’
Stressing the need for expansion, Transport Minister Paul Clark said: ‘The fact has not changed that having a transport system is the lifeblood of Britain's economy, indeed that Heathrow is our only hub airport. However, we said that [the expansion] should not be at any cost, which is exactly why we set criteria on the issues of noise, air quality and surface access.’
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