It is a sunny Wednesday afternoon and Raj Kimyani, Christian Hughes and Trevor Gordon are all enjoying a pint outside The White Horse in Longford.
The thatched pub is the last one left in the village and it is busy, as people who’ve managed to clock off work early drop in for a swift pint on the way home.
This peaceful scene could be taking place in any village in Britain. But the tranquility is suddenly interrupted by a thunderous noise from above.
It is the unmistakable sound of jet engines, as a plane takes off from Heathrow airport and soars above the village.
The three men take little notice of it and carry on talking. For them, this is normal.
Longford directly borders Heathrow’s terminal five and some of its houses are just hundreds of metres to the west of its northern runway.
This quaint village, which runs along Bath Road and is also home to offices and hotels serving Heathrow, dates back to the medieval period. For anyone who still lives in Longford, the airport, which opened in 1946, has been a part of life.
It might not be for much longer, however. If long-mooted and controversial plans for a third runway go ahead, their village would be destroyed in the sprawling infrastructure project which would also see the M25 moved.
Plans for a third runway were first proposed in 2009 and have hit many obstacles since. But they appear to be progressing.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves last January expressed the Labour government’s support for the expansion of Heathrow as part of its search for economic growth, but a final decision on the third runway is not expected for years, with a further public consultation to take place later this year.
Posters rejecting a third runway and the potential flattening of Longford are dotted around the village.
Mr Kimyani, Mr Hughes and Mr Gordon tell The Independent that the uncertainty facing Longford hangs over them, with locals feeling trapped.
Many want the plans scrapped so the village they call home will remain, while others who want to move on are not yet able to, they say.
If the plans do go ahead, then their homes are likely to be subject to compulsory purchase orders, with Heathrow to buy them. But until then, residents will not be able to “sell at a decent price” if they do want to leave, Mr Hughes says.
Mr Hughes, 54, who has lived in Longford since 1975 and is now chair of its residents’ association, tells The Independent: “This has been hanging over the village since 2008 when they first started talking about it.
“The issue is that, with the uncertainty, not being able to get a mortgage, not being able to sell at a decent price, you can’t move up and you’re kind of locked in.
“You’ve got a community of people that are just stuck. Even with the compulsory purchase, they’re not going to get what they deserve.”
Heathrow’s Becky Coffin tells The Independent that she appreciates uncertainty around expansion is “very challenging” for Longford residents, but says the airport is progressing its property compensation scheme to offer residents certainty “ as soon as possible”.
Away from the threat of expansion, the residents of Longford also have another, more pressing concern.
The government’s ‘Cranford agreement’ stopped aircraft taking off in an easterly direction from the northern runway, to reduce noise and pollution over the villages in the shadow of the airport, but it was scrapped in 2009.
Departures are generally into a headwind and the prevailing wind from the south-west means approximately 70 per cent of Heathrow’s operations are in a westerly direction.
At the moment, when planes take off towards the east, only the southern runway is used, which was part of the Cranford agreement.
However, last December, Hillingdon council approved an application to enable runway alternation for easterly operations.
Heathrow is currently going through an airspace change proposal with the Civil Aviation Authority and will carry out a public consultation as part of it.
According to Mr Hughes, when planes take off in a westerly direction, it means they begin their take-off around 750 metres away from the property in the village nearest the northern runway.
In the case of easterly take-offs, that is reduced to 250 metres, he claims, and this increases noise levels to unpalatable levels for residents, as the engines fire up ready for take-off.
“When they do take off from that end, they’re accelerating behind, you can feel everything, you can feel the vibration, before you can actually hear it”, says Mr Hughes.
“You can feel your house shake”, he adds.
Mr Hughes is worried about the regularity of easterly take-offs in the future and the impact they could have on Longford. He claims that the change in plans could mean 160 easterly take-offs a day, rather than 200 a year.
He is taking the fight to Heathrow over both the easterly take-offs and the threat of expansion – fights he says the residents’ association’s approximately 60 members are behind.
So, not only are Longford’s residents worried whether their village will cease to exist in a matter of years, but if it will be inhabitable until that point anyway.
“It’s draining”, says Mr Kimyani, 49, of the situation.
He moved into the village in 2004 and the proximity to the airport was a significant part of the appeal, as he worked in Switzerland frequently.
But since then he believes Longford has lost its charm. It only has one pub left – the Kings Arms was the most recent to close, shutting in 2024 after 250 years.
The village’s remaining residents lament its slow decline.
Mr Kimyani says that when he moved to Longford it was because of “the people, the character – a really undisclosed kind of place that you wouldn’t think is in Heathrow.
“That was the beauty of this place. Lovely bit of history, lovely buildings.
“Now we look at it and I’m kind of stuck that it’s lost its appeal.”
He puts this down to the looming threats hanging over it. “You’re stuck”, he adds. “That’s the problem.”
Mr Gordon, 75, just wants clarity. “I tend to get used to it [the noise]”, he says. “I just wish they’d stop kicking the tin can [and] make a decision.”
Becky Coffin, communities and residential property director, Heathrow, told The Independent: “We understand that Longford residents have concerns about easterly alternation and we take them very seriously.
“Residents’ feedback has shaped our approach, including our plans for a noise barrier to help reduce local impact in Longford.
“Introducing easterly alternation will provide more predictable periods of respite and more equitable distribution of noise for the surrounding communities of Heathrow.
“We acknowledge that for those living closest to Heathrow, particularly with the current ongoing uncertainty around expansion, it is very challenging.
“While timelines are subject to government and regulatory approval, we are progressing our property compensation schemes so we can offer impacted residents certainty as soon as possible.
“We are committed to continuing open engagement and dialogue with local residents and ensuring the appropriate compensation and support is in place.”
