Posts Tagged ‘heathrow’
Community Action, Campaign Success
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on May 25th, 2010
Source: guardian.co.uk via Greenleap
Image: planestupid via flickr CC
“Direct action played an absolutely critical role in the campaign. Its edginess both dramatised the issues and plied new pressure on the authorities. It was when the Climate Camp came to Heathrow that the campaign literally went global.” John Stewart, local residents group leader.
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From “The crucial role of activism in scrapping Heathrow’s third runway” by Joss Garman
It was more than four years ago when George Monbiot wrote [...] “At last the battlelines have been drawn, and the first major fight over climate change is about to begin. All over the country, a coalition of homeowners and anarchists, Nimbys and internationalists is mustering to fight the greatest future cause of global warming: the growth of aviation.”
Now the frontline in that battle, the third runway at Heathrow, has been officially cancelled, and so too have the new runways that Labour planned for Stansted and Gatwick. What began with a strong campaign by local people in west London whose communities were under threat from demolition and staggering levels of noise and air pollution, turned into a climate movement opposing airport expansion, and ultimately led to victory – and with it an example of Labour getting on the wrong side of the political argument.