HILLINGDON UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN - London Borough ...

11.10 If it can be shown that to meet demand for air passenger travel an expansion of terminal capacity
at Heathrow is necessary in the national interest, every effort should be made to reduce the environmental
impact of the airport in terms of traffic generation, noise and air pollution and general loss of amenity. This
would accord with the priorities of sustainable development, which are assuming ever-increasing
importance in government planning guidance and are reflected in the objectives of this UDP.
11.11 Survey results supplied by BAA plc indicate that the majority of airport employees live in areas
to the south and west of the airport, areas which are not well served by public transport to the airport,
although they do have good railway connections to Central London which pass relatively close to the
airport. By contrast the majority of passenger journeys have stated origins or destinations in Greater
London which is the area with the best existing and currently proposed public transport links with
Heathrow. A majority of passenger journeys are by public transport or taxi, but only a minority of
employee journeys are, and most of these are by Greater London based employees. HAL is trying to
encourage car sharing by employees in order to limit demand for car parking space.
TABLE 11.1 ORIGIN/DESTINATION OF HEATHROW SURFACE ACCESS PASSENGERS
Origin/Destination % of Passengers Modal split % Passengers’ Car Trips
Private/Public inc. Taxi To/From Heathrow
Greater London 56 38:62 48.0
Rest of SE England 27 55:45 33.5
Rest of UK 17 48:52 18.5
UK Total 100 44.56 100.0
Source:
CAA Survey (1987); BAA T5 Consultation Document ES1
11.12 Because Heathrow is the largest single traffic generator in the U.K., public transport is especially
suitable as the principal surface carrier for both air passengers and employees. The Plan's policies for
controlling development at the airport therefore seek to minimise growth in car journeys to and from the
airport and to maximise public transport use by passengers and employees. In particular increases in
passenger terminal capacity ought to be matched by equivalent increases in the capacity of public transport
links to the airport (see Policy AM2). Use of such capacity increases could significantly increase the
overall proportion of passengers using public transport. The Heathrow Express is likely to encourage
greater use of public transport to and from central London. Additional public transport capacity,
particularly links to the Intercity and Southern Region railway networks, would, for the first time, offer the
majority of passengers and employees a real choice in mode of transport to the airport; there is also
potential to improve access to the airport for bus passengers. Access by private transport would then only
be necessary mainly (but not of course so limited) for shift workers, who start or finish work outside
normal hours of public transport operation, and local users with no convenient bus service, as those from
further afield could travel from strategically placed railway stations providing rapid transit to Heathrow.
11.13 The availability of good public transport cannot of itself secure the desired shift from private to
public transport. The availability of car parking is a strong incentive to continue using a car. In addition to
parking spaces for passengers and employees provided at Heathrow Airport there are additional off-airport
car parks providing for demand for parking at Heathrow. Research into "fly parking" in the Heathrow area
has found that on-street parking by airport employees contributes, to a limited extent, to highway and
environmental problems. The provision of car parking at the airport and the use of parking off the airport,
both on and off street, are factors that will have to be taken into consideration in the assessment of
proposals for additional terminal capacity at the airport, as these have a direct impact on road traffic
generation.
A2 PLANNING APPLICATIONS FOR PROPOSALS WITHIN THE BOUNDARY OF
HEATHROW AIRPORT WHICH ARE LIKELY TO (a) INCREASE DEMAND SIGNIFICANTLY
FOR OFF-AIRPORT DEVELOPMENTS OR (b) HAVE SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT SHOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY A JUSTIFICATION OF THE
London Borough of Hillingdon Unitary Development Plan