WHAT DOES THE SUPREME COURT'S RULING MEAN FOR THE CAMPAIGN TO STOP HEATHROW EXPANSION?

 

We updated this page on 21 December 2020.

On 16 December 2020, the Supreme Court overturned a previous Court of Appeal ruling which means that the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) is legal once again. The Supreme Court's verdict does not mean Heathrow expansion now has the green light. It's simply one step on the path ahead.

Legal avenues

  • The Good Law Project have written to Government asking that they urgently review the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) or face legal action, to reflect the Net Zero emissions commitment that was included in the amended Climate Change Act in 2019, after the ANPS was put to Parliament. The GLP state that they will launch judicial proceedings if the Government have not responded by 18 January 2021. You can view more information about their challenge here.

  • Plan B Earth have announced they will launch proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on the basis that Chris Grayling's reliance on the dangerous and discredited 2˚C temperature limit is inconsistent with the right to life, protected by Article 2 of the Convention. ECtHR is not affected by Brexit.

  • Any future planning application that Heathrow submits will still be challengeable in the courts.

 

Government – Airports National Policy statement/climate change agenda

  • The Government did not challenge the Court of Appeal ruling. They should now withdraw the ANPS on the basis that the UK's Net Zero emissions target is a fundamental change of circumstances since the original decision in June 2018. The Planning Act 2008 enables the Secretary of State to consider any significant change in any circumstances on the basis of which any policy in the statement was decided. We believe the Government should make a truly national assessment of aviation policy, rather than one that is South-East and Heathrow dominated.

  • The climate change agenda is changing fast. In June 2019, the UK adopted a Net Zero emissions target by 2050. The Climate Change Committee advised the Government in December 2020 that there should be no net expansion of airports. This means that if a 3rd runway goes ahead that there will need to be operational restrictions and potentially closure of some regional airports, resulting in job losses in those regions. In this scenario, the Government will need to identify which airports they will be prepared to allow to close or substantially reduce operations – which could be seen as running counter to its ‘levelling up’ agenda and would mean longer journeys from home for those wishing to fly anywhere.

 

Planning Process

  • Before work can progress, Heathrow Airport will need to obtain a "Development Consent Order", which is likely to be subject to further legal challenges. As the Supreme Court made clear, the planning stage of the process will need to consider climate obligations in place at that time, including the UK's Net Zero 2050 target. Heathrow expansion implies 40 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year from UK aviation by 2050, so that's an obvious problem.

  • We will urge Heathrow to quickly set out a timeline for the third runway project, showing when they'll submit their application to the Planning Inspectorate. We believe local communities deserve to know, not least because of the impact of continued blight and uncertainties on residents’ health and wellbeing. There is no time constraint under the Planning Act which means Heathrow may not put in an application for well over a year, possibly much longer. Without support, we are deeply concerned about the mental anguish continued blight causes in our communities, particularly among elderly residents.

 

COVID impacts

  • There are also, of course, the impacts of COVID, in both the short and long term, some of which will not yet be known. Heathrow is currently focused on recovery from the pandemic, with the airport’s 2019 passenger numbers not expected to return for a number of years, so it is not certain a 3rd runway will ever be needed.

For any further information, please email us on info@stopheathrowexpansion.co.uk.

Third Runway, Pollution, Local Issues, Legal challenge, Homes and Community, Flight Paths, Expansion, air qualitySHE