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If the Government gives Heathrow expansion the go-ahead, there will be no shortage of welcoming voices from local residents. The real story of Heathrow is that many people in west London want expansion.

Independent polling by Populus in 12 parliamentary constituencies nearest to Heathrow airport shows pro-expansion supporters strongly outnumbering opponents. Not only that, a massive 82% of 70,000+ responses to the Airports Commission’s public consultation – mostly from local residents – backed a new runway at Heathrow. The number of responses expressing support for Heathrow expansion is higher than the total number of all submissions to the HS2 public consultation.

More than 100,000 local people have now given their support for the Back Heathrow campaign in favour of expanding the UK’s hub airport. They include small business owners, faith leaders, resident groups and community champions, all calling for a bigger and better Heathrow which will benefit west London, the Thames Valley and every corner of the British Isles.

Increasingly, more residents are saying ‘YES’ to growth and opportunities in communities around Heathrow. They represent a new phenomenon in the debate about planning, employment and prosperity – these are the JIMBYs, local people who want jobs in their backyard. They are rejecting the NIMBY arguments we used to hear so much about.

Our message to the Government is that Heathrow expansion has wide cross-party support in Parliament and the backing of most local people, UK businesses and international airlines. There will ever be a better time to give the green light to a new Heathrow runway… let’s get on and build it for Britain.