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Summer Recess Adjournment

It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis), and the whole House will of course send its condolences to the Hickman family. I want to raise two issues of concern within my constituency that are linked to large-scale planning developments. One is, of course, Heathrow expansion—the threat of the third runway and the sixth terminal, which, as Members will know, threaten the demolition of Sipson village, with 2,000 residents losing their homes, their school, their community centre and the entire village. The third runway also threatens Harmondsworth, Harlington, Cranford Cross and Longford villages, so people living there, too, will lose their homes, either through demolition or because they will have been rendered uninhabitable by air pollution and noise pollution. Those homes are already blighted. The families are unable to sell their properties if they wish to move, and mortgage companies will not lend to any purchasers. As a result, my constituency includes families with children who are trapped—in some instances, in one-bedroom or studio properties—and older people who are unable to sell their properties if they want to retire and live nearer to their families. BAA introduced a bond scheme, which effectively means that BAA promises to buy the properties affected by Heathrow expansion, but the problems with the bond scheme are the cause of real anxiety. The scheme does not cover all the properties affected by the expansion, and the payment levels, based on valuations of the properties, do not reflect their true value. When people lose their home, there is no compensation within the scheme for the costs of moving or losing their whole community. The bond scheme, furthermore, does not commence until the planning application for Heathrow expansion is actually submitted. That could be years, given the current economic climate and the chaos within BAA and its owner, Grupo Ferrovial. As a result, people are trapped in blight, often in overcrowded and inappropriate accommodation, and unable to plan their lives while this uncertainty hangs over their heads. BAA promised to bring forward the implementation of the bond scheme within weeks—but that was six months ago. I met its representatives, who argued that the problem lay with the individual airline companies, which had to guarantee the liabilities of the bond scheme. A number of them have refused to sign up, and BAA says it cannot secure their agreement. I asked those representatives whether they wanted the Government to intervene, and they said no. We cannot go on like this. It is damaging the lives of my constituents, so I urge the Government to set a deadline of no more than, say, two months, and if BAA does not adhere to its commitments and promises to my constituents to bring forward the start of the bond scheme, the Government must intervene to force them to do so. The real solution is, of course, to scrap the third runway proposal once and for all. I do not believe that I know anyone—other than the Prime Minister and the chief executive of BAA—who believes that the third runway proposal will go ahead. It is dead in the water, but what my constituents want are absolute commitments not only that the proposal is dead, but that it will never be revisited. My constituents want some safety and security for their homes, and they want the end of the threat to their communities. The second largest development in my area is the Southall gasworks site, which involves the largest planning application for housing development in west London—on the site of a large gasworks. There will be 4,000 new properties, shops and a school. It is located in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Southall (Mr. Sharma), but it abuts my own constituency. The major road accessing the site will run through my constituency from the Hayes bypass. The development poses the threat of immense growth in traffic and associated air pollution in an area already designated as an air pollution management reserve. I have become increasingly aware of the potential dangers to my constituents from pollutants on this highly contaminated site. The developer's own report now confirms that the contamination includes oil and tar waste, which forms carcinogenic hydrocarbons, and heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, cyanide and asbestos. The developers intend to excavate and treat those dangerous materials on site, but I am meeting members of the community who are extremely concerned about the risk that those materials will pollute the nearby Yeading brook and enter local water supplies. I am also extremely anxious about any attempts to transport those highly toxic materials through my constituency. The local Hillingdon council, I have to say, has done virtually nothing to explain the risks from the site development to the local community. The only public meetings on this planning application have been convened either by myself or by Friends of Minet country park, of which I am vice-chair. Not a single meeting open to the general public has been convened by the council to explain the potential risks of the development. I want to raise my concerns in the House, to draw attention to the risks and to urge the Government to maintain a close watch on that large-scale development and its environmental impact. I ask the Deputy Leader of the House to take the matter back to the relevant Ministers. We in the community are launching a campaign to ensure that my constituents are fully aware of the risks and are fully protected. We will submit our views to Hillingdon and Ealing councils to ensure that the proper inspections take place. Yes, we will urge those local authorities to ensure that conditions are attached to the application that protect my constituents from the increase in traffic and, more importantly, from the threat of pollutants from this contaminated site. If the application is to go ahead, I believe that every condition that could be applied should be applied, to protect the local community and the local environment. This site is also close to Guru Nanak school, one of the most successful schools in the country, where the Government have invested large sums in the expansion of both the primary and secondary school. I want to ensure that that school and its pupils are fully protected and fully safe. I also want to ensure that Minet country park is protected from the damage that could be incurred as a result of the development. On that basis, I give notice to Hillingdon council and others that my community will not stand by and allow our environment to be polluted by the development—even if the council is standing by and doing nothing.