An official health impact analysis released alongside the UK government’s consultation on a new planning framework warns that building a Heathrow third runway could have significant adverse effects on the health and wellbeing of people living nearby. The assessment, prepared for the Department for Transport, says the expansion is likely to cause “major adverse” impacts on the most local population. Reporting across outlets describes the potential harms as extending beyond health outcomes, with the analysis also indicating possible effects on access to housing, education, healthcare, open spaces, and transport.
The government has begun the next stage of its airport expansion process by consulting on a draft planning approach intended to provide the basis for Heathrow’s long-delayed third runway project. Several sources describe this consultation and associated materials as part of the development of a Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement.
Heathrow and related stakeholders are referenced through their responses to the draft framework, but the specific details of those responses are not included in the provided excerpts. Overall, the central point across sources is that the draft planning and impact work highlights potential health and wider community consequences for up to around three million nearby residents.
