Heathrow boss Thomas Woldbye has announced the airport’s multi-billion pound investment to accelerate plans for a controversial new runway that began two decades ago.

The privately-funded plan would see the airfield’s layout reconfigured, Terminals 2 and 5 enlarged, plus increased bus and coach capacity.

The Labour government backed commencement of digging by 2029 to drive economic growth - but major environmental concerns over pollution, noise and quality of life remain, with fresh planning and legal battles on the horizon.

The Standard podcast's Mark Blunden is joined by Paul Beckford, policy director at Hacan (the Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise) which represents communities living under the airport’s flight paths.

In part two, University College London professor of neuroscience ​Sonja Hofer discusses with Rachelle Abbott new research showing how the brain beats fear, with hopes the findings can one day support PTSD and anxiety treatments.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.