West London’s Jain community held an event at the Navnat Centre in Hayes on Friday 17 April, welcoming support for the Back Heathrow campaign.
Back Heathrow is a campaign that represents the views of 100,000 people based in West London and Thames Valley. They “want growth in jobs and trade at the UK’s only hub international airport”.
Around 300 people attended the event at the Navnat centre, which has a rich aviation tradition with historical links to aviation as a former British Airports Authority sports and social club. The Hayes venue hosted a presentation and discussion on the airport’s role in the local economy and its future development. The Jain community makes up about 37% of West London’s diaspora, according to a 2021 consensus.
During the tour, presentation and discussion, the President of the Navnat Centre, Jaswantrai Doshi highlighted the role local families have played in Heathrow’s success in its 80 years of existence.
Mr Doshi said: “It was a pleasure to welcome ‘Back Heathrow’ and to share a meal with our community. Many of our members have long-standing connections to Heathrow, which has played such an important role in providing stable employment and opportunities for families here in Hayes and beyond.
“It was a great opportunity for our community to have their voices heard about the upcoming expansion project – something that I truly welcome.”
Heathrow’s expansion plans remain one of the most significant and debated infrastructure proposals in the UK. The airport is progressing with proposals for a third runway and associated development, with the aim of securing planning permission by 2029 and beginning operations by 2035.
The scheme includes a new 3.5km runway, an additional terminal, known as T5X and upgrades to existing facilities. If completed, it is expected to increase the airport’s capacity to between 140 and 150 million passengers a year, a rise from the current 84.5 million. The project is intended to be privately financed, with current estimates placing the cost at around £49bn.
Back Heathrow says more than half of its supporters live within five miles of the airport, arguing that expansion would secure jobs and economic growth in surrounding communities. However, not everyone agrees with the plans, which continue to face scrutiny and opposition from environmental groups and campaigners concerned about noise, air quality and carbon emissions.
Asian Standard headed out into the streets of Hounslow, a community that lives on many flightpaths and around a 20-minute drive from Heathrow for most.
Many people told Asian Standard that they were in support of the proposals, with one student saying that “if you do live here, you’ll get used to it”, which as a resident of nearby Hounslow for as long as I’ve been alive, I can attest to that – it becomes background noise a lot of the time.
One office worker we spoke to said: “If it helps us get away, then I don’t have an issue with it. I live about a 10-minute drive away and have double-glazed windows, so I can’t hear anything. At night, they change the routes, so the planes don’t fly over.”
Another student at nearby Heathland Secondary School said: “If anything, it’s a mild inconvenience for about 10-20 seconds. If it can help people get jobs, then I don’t mind.”
However, not all people of the West London community welcome this expansion with open arms.
A shopkeeper nearby at Hanworth Road Post Office, said: “I don’t actually live around here, though I used to live nearby. But I know that a lot of people do, and will be affected, so for that reason, I am against the expansion.”
A local delivery driver said: “We already have a lot of noise and pollution, what do we need more for? I can see how it’ll be good for some, and I’ve been living here for 36 years, so it hasn’t bothered me much. But if we can keep pollution down, I’d rather that.”
John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, said that the number of homes to be demolished would be close to 4,000. However, aviation minister Jim Fitzpatrick defended the plans, saying that anyone who were to lose their home would be fully compensated.
Some people were unsure and felt as though they didn’t know enough, with one young college student explaining: “I didn’t even know much about it until you came and spoke to me, so it’s never really been something that I have thought about.”
Out of the 11 people we spoke to, a majority of 45% were for, and 27.5% were against, with the remaining 27.5% being unsure and as though they didn’t know enough.
Parmjit Dhanda, Executive Director of Back Heathrow, said: “We are grateful to our friends at the Navnat Centre for such a warm welcome. It was a pleasure to spend time with them and hear so many personal stories about the generations of families who have held jobs at Heathrow.
Today, the airport continues to create new opportunities for people from a wide range of backgrounds, and I am so proud to be with the hard working and devoted members of our local Jain community.”
Parmjit Dhanda added, “Over half of our supporter base lives within 5 miles of the airport and we are proud of the multi-cultural and multi-faith nature of our diverse membership.”
At the present time, Heathrow’s runway expansion has totalled up to cost about £33 billion, but it is expected to cost around £49 billion as of late 2025.
Whilst previous targets were delayed, Heathrow has said they will try and secure planning permission by 2029, and have the runway operating by 2035.
The debate around the controversial plans continue.
