Heathrow would have to shell out at least £200 million to insulate homes in Hounslow should a third runway get the go-ahead, it was claimed today.
That is the cost of noise-proofing every home in the borough which would be affected by aircraft noise from an expanded Heathrow and has not already been insulated, according to Hounslow Council.
Council leader Steve Curran announced the figure, calculated for the council by Bureau Veritas, as he gave evidence to the Airports Commission at a public conference in Sipson today.
"We estimate (noise insulation) would cost around £200m so Heathrow's compensation package of £550m across 14 local authorities is clearly not nearly enough," he said.
Mr Curran also demanded extra investment from Heathrow for schools, including the creation of an aviation skills academy, plus substantial improvements to the Piccadilly line and a curfew on flights between 11pm and 7am.
"Hounslow doesn't want to see Heathrow close but the airport could do more. Heathrow employs tens of thousands of people in the local area. Losing it would be catastrophic to the local economy," he said.
"We want Heathrow to work with us to up-skill our workforce and create an Aviation Skills Academy which would help ensure Hounslow residents have the opportunity to become the engineers, air traffic controllers and pilots of the future."
Heathrow has promised £250m for noise insulation, as part of a £550mcommunity compensation package, should a third runway get the go-ahead.
A Heathrow spokeswoman said: "Heathrow Airport held a series of public consultations and met with local authorities as part of a proactive effort to gather residents' viewpoints on the noise insulation offer, which is a key component of its expansion plans.
"The feedback we received will be integral to a new and improved noise insulation scheme, the details of which will be announced early in the new year."
Heathrow pledged this week to compensate some 3,750 householders affected by noise from a third runway should they wish to up sticks.
The airport's new chief executive John Holland-Kaye also promised this summer to complete secondary glazing works at schools under the flight paths by April next year.
Mr Holland-Kaye today apologised at the conference for Heathrow's broken promise made almost 20 years ago to rule out ever building a third runway.
