Heathrow Airport consultation: community and compensation
Published 22 February 2017
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heathrow-airport-consultation-community-and-compensation/heathrow-airport-consultation-community-and-compensation
The initial draft Airports National Policy Statement consultation closed in May 2017. This information is no longer current.
Community compensation expectations
Expansion of Heathrow Airport will provide employment opportunities and economic growth, but it will also have some negative impacts on local communities, including through loss of property and exposure to aircraft noise.
The government expects Heathrow Airport to provide an appropriate community compensation package. This will include enhanced financial compensation to residents for the purchase of their homes, and insulation programmes to mitigate the impacts of aircraft noise on both private homes and public buildings such as schools. The government also expects Heathrow Airport to develop a compensation fund to address impacts arising from airport expansion.
The draft Airports National Policy Statement includes the government’s expectations for each element of community compensation. Heathrow Airport must fulfil its statutory obligations on compensation, but, in addition, it has publicly committed to a community compensation package that includes more generous provisions in several areas.
Before granting development consent, the Secretary of State will consider whether and to what extent Heathrow Airport has sought to minimise impacts on local people, has consulted on the detail of its works, has put mitigation in place – at least to the level set out in its public commitments – and has provided for a community compensation fund.
Proposed compensation
Heathrow Airport has made a number of public commitments to provide compensation.
Property purchase
Heathrow Airport has committed to pay 125% of unblighted market value (how much a house would be worth if there were no proposal for new capacity), plus taxes and reasonable moving costs, to all homeowners whose houses are required for compulsory purchase. It has extended the same terms to a voluntary purchase zone covering the area known as the Heathrow Villages. This means the qualifying owner of a home valued at £300,000 in this area might receive that sum, plus a further £75,000 in compensation, as well as stamp duty and funding to cover the costs associated with moving to a new home. The Secretary of State wishes to see commitments about how and when this will operate.
Noise mitigation
Heathrow Airport has committed to provide full noise insulation for the residential properties most affected by aircraft noise (within the 60dB LAeq noise contour of an expanded airport). This could include double glazing and loft or ceiling insulation.
For homes further away from the airport (within the 57dB LAeq or 55dB Lden noise contour of an expanded airport, whichever covers the widest area), a contribution of up to £3,000 per residential property for noise insulation will be given.
Heathrow Airport has also committed to a programme of noise insulation and ventilation for schools and community buildings (within the 60dB LAeq noise contour) to mitigate the impact of aircraft noise on learning.
Community compensation fund
In addition, the government supports the Airports Commission’s recommendation for ongoing community compensation proportionate to the environmental impacts of an expanded airport. The size of the fund, its duration and what the money can be spent on will be determined during the planning process.
Community engagement and skills
Communities will wish to participate fully in the development and delivery of expansion, and the government expects them to be able to do so.
The government wishes to maximise stakeholder engagement in the expansion process. It expects Heathrow to create a community engagement board following successful examples at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Frankfurt Airport.
The community engagement board at Heathrow will help to ensure that local communities are able to contribute effectively to the process,including responding to Heathrow-led consultations and to evidence gathering during planning.
Heathrow Airport must engage constructively with the community engagement board throughout the planning process, with its membership (including an independent chair), and with any programme(s) of work the Community Engagement Board agrees to take forward.
Expansion
Expansion represents an opportunity to increase the number of jobs and apprenticeships for neighbouring communities. Heathrow Airport proposes to create an additional 5,000 apprenticeships, doubling the number offered at the airport. Heathrow Airport should ensure that opportunities are taken up by local people, sharing the benefits of expansion with neighbouring communities.
The Secretary of State’s consideration of whether to grant development consent will include whether Heathrow Airport has set out a credible plan to implement its commitment to deliver these new apprenticeships at an expanded airport.
Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport:
Heathrow will provide the greatest economic and employment benefits, delivering tens of thousands of additional local jobs by 2030.