3rd runway

We've won a great victory against the Heathrow third runway, but there are still plans to expand aviation elsewhere around the country. The airline industry needs to take on its fair share of emissions cuts. We should be thinking about reducing, not expanding aviation. We can start with journeys which can clearly be made through other means - by replacing domestic flights with an improved national train and coach network.

On Saturday 4 September, our friends at the Campaign against Climate Change are organising a 'Train not Plane' day of action in London and Manchester. It starts with a demonstration outside London's City Airport in the morning, supporting the local campaign to stop increased numbers of flights at the airport. This will be followed by a

Boy are BAA keen on a third runway for Heathrow. Their enthusiasm knows no bounds, and there appear to be no lengths they won't go to to get their own way - purely for the good of the country, of course (even though they are Spanish owned) - no shabby profit motives involved.

So far in order to see their dream come true they have:

• colluded with the government (through a joint body - the Heathrow Delivery Group) to steer their plans through the consultation process
• supplied their own data for calculations of noise and pollution that inform the proposal, and prevented opposition groups gaining access it it to carry out their own analyses
• written parts of the consultation themselves
• drawn up a 'risk' list with the Department of Transport to counter opponents of the proposal (including the 2M campaign, the group comprising local councils representing 2 million people who'll be affected by the new runway)
• taken out an injunction against Airportwatch, the umbrella organisation who's members include such radical groups as the National Trust, the RSPB, the Woodland Trust and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, as well as ourselves.