IT'S ALL UP IN THE AIR.
Paintings by Hester Berry
21st-29th October 2009

Hester Berry writes: My first solo exhibition in London aims to raise awareness of local issues which affect climate change - in particular the impending destruction of the village of Sipson in order to make room for a third runway at Heathrow airport. Sipson is a small village in the London borough of Hillingdon, which has had to contend with the construction and growth of the airport since the First World War. Now BAA (the owner of what was once a small military airfield, and is now the busiest international airport in the world) wants to force the sales of 700 homes, pubs, restaurants, shops, garages and a school – and bodies laid to rest in Cherry Lane Cemetery would be exhumed in order to make way for new infrastructure. The proposed expansion, backed by the Labour Party, would make Heathrow the single largest emitter of CO2 in the UK.

Robin Saikia of Gallery 118 writes: Recent reports that the Heathrow expansion scheme is to be scrapped in the wake of Conservative opposition should be taken with a pinch of salt. Whilst concerted opposition in the UK and throughout Europe has undoubtedly slowed things down, BAA remain committed to the project: “We [BAA] remain convinced that a third runway is the only viable, costed and thought through way of meeting the need for extra runway capacity to maintain this country’s global connections to the rest of the world, particularly in an era where long haul links to markets such as China and India are increasingly important. The process was always going to take until after the general election. We continue to work on the application and will take as long as is necessary to prepare a proper submission.” In other words, they’ll wait until the dust has settled before attempting to force through a superficially modified – but no less lucrative and damaging – proposal.