| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:I'm all for Heathrow expansion (not). | |
| Posted by: | Guy Lambert | |
| Date/Time: | 27/11/07 13:24:00 |
| What the airport opposers seem not to have noticed is that the presence of an airport is not just about airport jobs. International companies are international, and locate near to international facilities. In my own industry I notice that Fujitsu, SAP, Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, Dell, EDS etc etc are not based in Chelmsford, nor are Smithkline Beacham and many others. They are all based in the W.London quadrant, for two reasons: - It is the economic centre of gravity of Southern UK - It has the world's busiest international airport. Off the back of these international businesses hang a myriad of local services etc and thus (guess what) the W.London quadrant has a booming economy, strong house prices and, yes, pollution and congestion. We can all make choices about whether all this adds up for our individual lifestyles - if aircraft noise/pollution is a priority you can go and live in rural Norfolk and bank a large part of the proceeds of selling your house: what you can't do is have your cake and eat it. The prosperity around here is based on economic activity, a significant chunk of which comes from or is supported by Heathrow. Personally I've lived in Chiswick for about 20 years, including several years close to the flight path in Grove Park and (Concorde aside) was never in the least troubled by plane noise. If you don't like it here, sell up and move on, rejoicing in the prosperity you've enjoyed and (where applicable) the high price you can sell your dwelling for. |