The first of many film showings

On a dark, cold and wet February evening underneath the roaring sound of planes taking off from Heathrow airport, about 25 residents huddled around a big screen in Harmondsworth Community centre, Harmondsworth being one of the villages directly threatened by the proposed 3^rd runway at Heathrow.

The film showing was organised by campaign group Transition Heathrow who have moved into the village of Harlington to implement plans that look at creating a more sustainable Heathrow that will be equipped to deal with the imminent harsh impacts of climate change and peak oil.

The evening commenced with a short 10 minute animation called Wake Up Freak Out by Plane Stupid’s Leo Murray which delved into the science behind climate change and what a future in 10/20 years time could look like.

After a short break involving lots of cake and tea the audience were shown the film The End Of Surburbia. This film looks at the dwindling supplies of oil and starts to address the concept of peak oil, this concept is very simple – it refers to the idea that the world has a finite reserve of oil and that it is running out. Some believe that global oil production will reach its peak during this decade and then fall forever into a state of decline. Although fairly long and involving lots of interviews, what most engaged everyone in the room was the last 10 minutes of the film which starts to to look at how local communities will be affected and ways in which to tackle these massive issues, at a local level.

Once the film was over everyone gathered in a big group to voice there concerns and ideas for the future. Everyone was keen to discuss these issues and will be looking to facilitate these exciting ideas and plans through Transition Heathrow and other local groups.

Transition Heathrow will be holding a massive ‘open space’ meeting probably on Saturday the 13^th March and everyone from the film showing will hopefully be attending along with many more local people. The open space meeting is for anyone that may be interested in looking into and implementing local transition plans on anything from transport and food growing to education, direct action and transition justice.