---

Civil Aviation Bill

My Lords, the Minister would not expect to get away with his comments on airports reneging on their responsibilities without me making some comment. The airports have always reneged on their responsibilities in my experience, whether it be noise, nuisance created to the local community, or the number of flights, aircraft emissions, or the frozen effluent that used to drop and still does drop on my constituents in the Richmond Park area—when I was their Member of Parliament. They have never taken these issues seriously and have not kept promises given to the local residents that there would be no more expansion at Heathrow. It is about time that, instead of uttering the same old stuff about reneging on responsibilities and consulting with the local community, the Government actually took residents seriously and said that we cannot go on with this demand for increased air travel without considering local people and the environment.