Court of Appeal rules against third Heathrow runway
Environmental campaigners, London boroughs and mayor Sadiq Khan have triumphed in a legal bid to block the expansion of London’s Heathrow Airport. The decision may have permanently ended the prospect of a third runway at Heathrow, one lawyer said.
The Court of Appeal today ruled that the government had failed to take account of its commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change when setting out its support for the airport expansion in its National Policy Statement (NPS).
Lord Justice Lindblom told a packed court: “The Paris Agreement ought to have been taken into account by the secretary of state in the preparation of the NPS and an explanation given as to how it was taken into account, but it was not.”
Environmental campaigners, London boroughs and mayor Sadiq Khan have triumphed in a legal bid to block the expansion of London’s Heathrow Airport. The decision may have permanently ended the prospect of a third runway at Heathrow, one lawyer said.
The Court of Appeal today ruled that the government had failed to take account of its commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change when setting out its support for the airport expansion in its National Policy Statement (NPS).
Lord Justice Lindblom told a packed court: “The Paris Agreement ought to have been taken into account by the secretary of state in the preparation of the NPS and an explanation given as to how it was taken into account, but it was not.”
He added that the current government did not oppose the making of a declaration that the NPS was unlawful, and had not sought permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Al Watson, partner and head of planning and environment at Taylor Wessing, said the decision was “perhaps to be expected” and could be the final nail in the coffin for the third runway proposals.
He explained: “Delivery of a major project is all about timing, and there have been too many conflicting factors in play during this policy planning process.
“Amidst the timing of the previous government’s decision to go for carbon neutral in the economy by 2050, combined with the new Conservative government with a PM and his long history of opposing Heathrow, the emerging science on the climate crisis, the timing for promoting and obtaining consent, delivering a third runway at Heathrow may well have gone, and forever.”
He added: “So what now? The other airports in the London airport system need to understand how their expansion plans need to take up demand that cannot be met entirely at Heathrow.
‘The government needs to take its own advice on what to do next. Does it go to the Supreme Court or will the PM shrug his shoulders and tacitly accept the defeat he appears to have wanted?”
In May last year, the High Court dismissed the challenge, brought on the grounds of climate change, air quality, surface access, noise and wildlife habitats.
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