If you’re a member of the National Trust, the RSPB, the Woodland Trust
or Friends of the Earth, then you could be banned from Britain’s
biggest airport. And the Piccadilly line. And parts of Paddington
station. And sections of the M4. All because the authorities want to
halt a protest against climate change…
By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Published: 27 July 2007
Five million people in peaceful environmental organisations such as
the National Trust and the RSPB have become the subject of an
extraordinary legal attempt to limit their right to protest.
In legal documents seen by The Independent, the British Airports
Authority has begun moves that would allow police to arrest members of
15 environmental groups to prevent them taking part in demonstrations
against airport expansion.
While the threat of terrorism and consequent security checks have been
dominating the headlines during the start of the summer holidays, BAA
has been planning a pre-emptive strike against environmentalists.
Next week, in response to a demonstration due to be held outside
Heathrow airport, BAA will go to the High Court to seek judicial
approval for an anti-environmentalist injunction, the terms of which
are so wide they have provoked astonishment among the green movement.
Any one of five million people in groups such as the Campaign for the
Protection of Rural England could be arrested for travelling on the
London Underground or possessing a kite.
Anyone failing to give 24 hours’ notice of a protest could be arrested
for travelling on sections of the motorway or from standing on
platforms 6 and 7 at Paddington station to catch the Heathrow Express.
The terms of the injunction would cover: “All railway trains and
carriages operating upon the Piccadilly line of the London Underground
System ; the M4 and all service stations between and including
junctions 3 and 6; and the M25 and all service stations between and
including junctions 13 and 15…”
Civil rights campaigners claim the injunction, which will be heard on
Wednesday, would put new limits on the right to peaceful protest.
Liberty described the “massively wide ban” – which has no time limit -
as ridiculously unenforceable. “The dangerous and undemocratic trend
of large corporations seeking to trample the legal right to peaceful
protest should be taken very seriously by the courts,” the human
rights group protested.
BAA insisted it had a duty to protect the travelling public from
disruption during the holiday season and was not seeking to prevent
legal protest. As part of the second annual Camp for Climate Action,
up to 5,000 protesters were to pitch tents for a week at or near
Heathrow from 14 August in protest at plans for a third runway that
would increase flights by 50 per cent. A day of peaceful direct
action, such as occupying an airline office, was planned but
organisers have promised not to compromise safety or inconvenience
passengers.
On Monday, BAA served an injunction on four protest leaders: Joss
Garman from Camp for Climate Action and Plane Stupid; Leo Murray, of
Plane Stupid; Geraldine Nicholson, of the Heathrow campaign group No
Third Runway Action Group; and John Stewart, of Hacan and
AirportWatch, an umbrella group of 10 environmental groups such as the
RSPB, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the National Trust, whose
members total more than five million people. Members of all the groups
would be banned from setting up a camp at or in the vicinity of
Heathrow and from carrying items including spades, saws, ropes,
cables, aerosol cans, balloons, whistles and loudhailers.
The protesters would be allowed to gather at three protest points on
the outskirts of the airport providing they did not exceed an as yet
unspecified number, and gave their names, car registration plates and
advance notice. They would not be allowed to use any megaphones,
klaxons or sirens or go within 100 metres of any airport operation.
BAA said in a statement: “During the summer holiday period up to
200,000 people pass through Heathrow daily… These people would
suffer as a result of any unlawful or irresponsible behaviour aimed at
disrupting the smooth operation of the airport.”
Mr Garman said that he was “stunned” at the breadth of the injunction.
“It seems that having totally lost the argument on climate change they
are resorting to bullying tactics. It is by far the biggest crackdown
on civil liberties we have seen in terms of peaceful protest.
Martin Harper of the RSPB said: “It does seem extraordinary at a time
when half of the country is knee deep in flood water and the
Government is bringing forward legislation to tackle climate change
that BAA is having to resort to bullying tactics to halt protests.”
Why the airport has become a target
Activists are targeting Heathrow because of the threat posed to new
climate-change targets by the planned expansion of airports
nationwide. They believe the protests can influence aviation policy in
the same way that the Newbury bypass protests in 1996 led to Labour
calling a halt to the building of more roads.
At stake is the future of the world’s busiest international airport.
Heathrow currently has a limit of 480,000 flights a year. Allowing
both existing runways to handle take-offs and landings and building a
third runway could take that to 800,000 flights. Twelve local
authorities in west London have formed the 2M group to oppose the
plans which they say will leave a “constant rumble” over the homes of
people in Kensington & Chelsea, Fulham, Richmond, Kingston and other
areas. Members of the NoTRAG and Hacan Clearskies campaigning groups
are also fighting the proposals.
The Government argues airport expansion is necessary to ensure
continued economic growth. According to a study by Oxford Economic
Forecasting last month, the planned airport expansion will increase
GDP by £13bn by 2030, outweighing “climate change costs”. A third
runway would demolish the village of Sipson and part of Harmondsworth.
Bryan Sobey, 78, president of the Harmondsworth and Sipson Residents’
Association, said: “It’s a bit like ethnic cleansing without the guns.
It will take an entire village and part of another village out of
existence completely.”
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