The announcement of the expansion of Heathrow to include a third runway is one which provokes mixed reactions for me.

I grew up under the flight path of Heathrow and it provided a constant source of irritation.

Every 10 minutes or so, your life would be disrupted by the noise, conversations would become difficult, sleep could be abruptly stopped.

My black and white TV, which was so old it had one of the turning tuning knobs and used a coathanger, would go crazy when planes went overhead. Invariably this would be during a dramatic part of a TV show, the essential part of the plot of a film or when someone scored a goal in football.

It was worse in the summer when sitting out in the garden was regularly interrupted by noise.

But I now live with my girlfriend, who comes from the Isle of Man. Flying for her is not about going on holiday on the cheap in Spain, it’s about seeing her family and staying in touch with loved ones.

The alternative to a flight is a train or coach journey to Liverpool followed by a ferry across the Irish Sea. The duration would be several hours more than that of a plane and the cost probably double. For anyone at who is not on a high wage, it is completely impractical.

I also have a friend whose dad works for BA and realise how important the airport is to locals in providing employment. Given these extraordinary times the expansion would provide a massive boost to employment numbers and encourage other firms to investing the area. Such a timely boost would send out a message to the country that things are picking up and maybe inject some confidence into the markets. Such an opportunity cannot be ignored.

But of course there are the environmental considerations, which are massive. I can understand the plight of those green campaigners vehemently against the proposals and the news of strict climate monitoring will do little to appease them.

Yet this expansion is more than just jobs, or money, or cheaper flights, or carbon emissions. With such feeling and the current economic climate it becomes greater than the sum of its parts and before either side condemns or condones the decision we must remember to consider all sides. I for one am glad to have not had to made that decision. What impact it has both financially and environmentally we will see in time and only then will we know if the right choice was made.

• A quick word of congratulations to former GMTV presenter Fionna Phillips for amazing insight. Speaking on Kevin Pietersen’s shock resignation as England captain, she wrote in her Mirror column: “Boycott, Botham, Flintoff and Pietersen - they're the names that trip off my tongue when I think of cricket, which I don't often.”

Great to see that she immediately displays her pedigree in the sport and the complex dressing room issues which are at the heart of the story.

She continued: “To hear former England captain Kevin Pietersen criticised by cricket's grey men for his tattoos, his earrings, his hair and even his wife, annoys the hell out of me.

“He had the decency to resign as England captain this week to make it easier for cricket's blazer men, who didn't have the guts to back him.

“England will be poorer without him as captain.”

Really? And this is based on the argument the “men in blazers” didn’t like his earring. Such shallow opinions of those involved and a lack of understanding of the long standing issues here are truly remarkable. I would imagine the argument is much more to do with selection, the role of Peter Moores, whether having your best player as captain works, dressing room allegiances and poor on field performances, rather than his hair cut. Having confessed she knew nothing about cricket, maybe she should have left it at that.

• A friend of mine recently updated her Facebook status to “Probablemente Dios no existe. Deja de preocuparte y disfruta la vida”.

Those of you who can speak foreign languages may be able to determine it says "There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." News readers will have realised the message is of course that of the Atheist bus campaign ads that have been highly publicised and attacked by Christian Voice. What is remarkable is that she saw said phrase on the side of a bus not in the UK nor America but Honduras. I am totally behind the campaign. It isn’t offensive and offers a different view point. Those who want to believe it can and those who don’t can ignore them. I am also delighted the campaign is getting world-wide coverage. I would not be surprised if church attendances go up rather than down in fact, as more people question the existence of Gad particularly during difficult times.

• I love football, but it is almost impossible not to feel sick at the thought of one player being worth £100m and getting paid £500,000 a week when thousands of people are losing their jobs each week and wondering how they will pay the next bill. The thought of Kaka playing in the Premiership is an exciting prospect but at that price it is just crazy. But then so is football nowadays it seems. I feel sorry for the City fans who will no doubt be priced out of tickets to see the superstar.