Turn Heathrow into garden city, report says
Proposals include turning Richard Rogers’ Terminal 5 into a higher education campus
Heathrow Airport should be knocked down and turned into a garden city supporting 30,000 homes, a report out today has said.
Called Heathrow Garden City, the 16-page document has been written by Graeme Bell, the current vice president of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and a former government adviser.
Bell said the only building that should be kept is Richard Rogers’ Terminal 5 building which would be turned into a higher education campus incorporating an engineering centre of excellence.
He said Heathrow needed to be reinvented rather than expanded and a new airport built elsewhere – possibly in the Thames estuary.
Bell estimated his proposals for a new Heathrow would create 80,000 jobs and would see a retail park put up on the site of the current Terminal 4 building as well as building four garden suburbs of around 2,000 homes each and two urban villages of about 3,000 homes each. In addition, there would be 400ha of landscaping and 35ha of open water.
Bell said Heathrow had passed its sell-by date and added: “With Heathrow bursting at the seams, now is the time for the government to take a bold step to realise the vision of a new international hub airport for the benefit of both the UK and London.”
The report is part of the Tomorrow Series papers published by the TCPA.
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Readers' comments (15)
T5 would make a good exhibition centre.
Certainly if London had no airport, and you were planning one today, Heathrow is the last place you'd choose for it.
haha Sceptical. Please explain why a flat site on the junction between the M25 and the M4 would be the 'last place' to put an airport. I find it only fair that richmond - with all its protected views - is also directly beneath the flight path.
An absolutely wonderful idea! But see my comment under ‘Mayor's Board to lead on London housing architecture’. The same applies here. Maritz Vandenberg.
Look closely and you can just see Boris Johnson’s arm manipulating this planning stooge!!!!!! What’s he been promised to make him say this at such a timely moment? Don’t blink or you’ll suddenly find yourself standing in a new London (Mudflat!) Terminal/Airport to the east of Heathrow. No questions or alternatives allowed!!!!
Best idea for Heathrow I've read so far - give this man a knighthood!
Good plan... by the time we've dimantles heathrow and built this new giant airport for London we'll have run out of oil.
Now that the plan is on display, it looks like it has overtly Christian backers. Nothing wrong with a large crucifix lake, but perhaps the central commercial centre could contain a replica of Stone Henge to provide some multi-faith balance.
But more seriously, the density is very low bearing in mind the three underground stations and the connections to Crossrail. Looks like a wasted opportunity, or political opportunism.
@ Fanny: well said- either they were lying to us and the oil is NOT going to run out, or they know it IS going to run out but don't care.
Welcome to the next suburban nowhere land.