Call for "baffling" Heathrow consultation document to be withdrawn

12.15.27pm GMT Thu 17th Jan 2008

Richmond Council has backed a call for the Government's consultation document on plans for Heathrow expansion to be rewritten - in plain English.

The Plain English Campaign has condemned the document as "atrocious" and called for it to be withdrawn and redrafted. Speaking on behalf of the 2M Group of local authorities, fighting airport expansion, the Leader of Richmond Council, Cllr Serge Lourie, said: "The document is littered with impenetrable Governmentspeak, sheer gobbledegook. We have already raised extreme concerns about this consultation. Indeed, we have believed from the start that it was a sham, and that the Government never had any intention of seeking local people's views in any meaningful way. This farcical document, which has simply not been designed to be accessible or understandable, underlines this. The Plain English Campaign rightly condemn it and we strongly support their call for it to be re-written in language which makes sense."

The Founding Director of the Plain English Campaign, Chrissie Maher, said: "The document effectively takes away human rights. No ordinary person with an interest in the plans to expand Heathrow could be expected to read and understand this. We are not taking sides in the debate, but it is so important that in a democracy consultations are genuine. People must have a fair chance to understand the documents put before them otherwise they cannot tell you what they really think. I'm calling on the Department for Transport to withdraw and redraft this."