22/10/12

Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership statement on Heathrow expansion

Berkshire, 8th October, 2012, The Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (TVB LEP) announced today that the majority of its stakeholders are in favour of expansion to Heathrow airport and fully endorse any decision that re-opens the opportunity for Heathrow to increase its capacity.

The majority of TVB LEP’s stakeholders deem Heathrow Expansion to be the right development needed to ensure that businesses in the Thames Valley region, and ultimately the UK, continue to thrive and remain prosperous. TVB LEP feels that inaction on Heathrow will actually jeopardise economic growth, as for the UK to increase inward investment it needs to demonstrate leadership in transportation infrastructure and be able to serve new and growing global markets. UK transportation must be world class and key statistics show that UK companies trade 20 times as much with those countries with daily connecting flights than those with less frequent connections.

Thames Valley Berkshire is a major growth region and has positive impact on UK GDP, making it one of the three top performing economies in the UK. With 75% of businesses in the region stating that the proximity to Heathrow is a primary reason for their choice of location, it is essential that an opportunity for growth is not lost because the UK cannot make a decision and continues to debate the right and wrongs of Heathrow Expansion. Whilst the UK continues to debate, Germany is already on track with its expansion and Frankfurt now already serves more destinations than Heathrow.  Overall Germany has 60 flights departing daily and heading directly to China compared to zero coming from the UK.  With £19.5 billion worth of Exports in London and the South East dependant on air travel, the UK cannot afford to lose market share.

As well as expansion of Heathrow itself, another key consideration is ground transportation infrastructure serving an expanded airport as is new technology to reduce noise and pollution. TVB LEP believes that an extended airport will need to have a range of further measures introduced to address local congestion on the roads serving the airport and encouraging public transport will help to reduce carbon emissions and make for better journeys.

For more information on the TVB LEP’s positioning on expansion to Heathrow and other key initiatives, please visit www.thamesvalleyberkshire.co.uk or contact Andrew Cumpsty, Deputy Chair, on 07934 158463.

Back to News page