We danced all night and it was our revolution! People from all over the UK, many from Scotland complete with kilts, traditional ceilidh (1) songs, tartan bunting and 40 litres of veggie haggis came to shoot an arrow across the bow of the Heathrow third runway and its devastating impact on the local community.
Adopt A Resident Match-Making
We didn't expect BAA to get scared so quickly but just a few hours later, BAA announced the runway was to be shelved! Whoo hoo! Local residents spun activists round, stomping and yelling, whirling and twirling to up-beat music whilst, from the stage, people affected by flightpaths from London to Aberdeen bellowed their stories of injustice, hope and resistance. There followed some new Adopt a Resident (2) pairings, more limbo- under-the- arm-tube lock-on, whilst we all chuckled with renewed hope for the future.
1. A communal dance with live bands, particularly popular in Scotland, Ireland and Climate Camp. There are generally fiddles, line dances and gingham.
2. Adopt A Resident is a community solidarity adoption scheme for local people underneath the flightpath (many pensioners). The residents are those who have decided to refuse to put up with the existing problems inflicted on the community by the airport (noise, health issues to name a few) in the face of Government plans to expand the airport. They sign themselves up for adoption through the scheme, and Plane Stupid then help to find friendly affinity groups to adopt them and share strategies for resistance.
