Heathrow expansion is put back on track by top judges
HEATHROW has won the latest battle in its bid for a third runway – but campaigners are vowing to pursue their challenge in Europe.
Supreme Court judges backed airport chiefs and the government, who say the expansion will ‘allow global Britain to become a reality’.
But disappointed campaigners say they will launch a new appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.
They also cast doubt on whether a third runway will ever go ahead, given the pandemic’s impact on airlines.
A woman was arrested for hurling red paint at the Supreme Court in protest following the announcement.
Yesterday’s verdict overturned an earlier Court of Appeal ruling that the government had failed to take account of its own climate commitments.
The expansion was voted for by MPs in 2018 when Theresa May was PM and Boris Johnson – who had vowed to ‘lie down in front of bulldozers’ to prevent it – was serving as foreign secretary.
In February, the Court of Appeal vetoed the approval, saying it clashed with the 2015 Paris agreement to limit global warming to well below 2C.
That followed a challenge by a group of London councils, environmental charities including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Plan B Earth, and London mayor Sadiq Khan.
They said Chris Grayling, who was transport secretary at the time of the approval, failed to take proper account of the Paris agreement.
But delivering the Supreme Court ruling from home, Lord Sales said that Mr Grayling had been under ‘no obligation’ to take account of the pact in the government’s long-term transport plans.
Heathrow will now need to apply for development consent under which planning authorities can take into account Paris pledges, including the government’s aim to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Cheering the decision, Heathrow said: ‘Demand for aviation will recover from Covid-19 and the additional capacity at an expanded Heathrow will allow Britain as a sovereign nation to compete for trade and win against rivals in France and Germany.’
But mayor Mr Khan was ‘disappointed’ by the court’s ruling.
And Tim Crosland, a Plan B lawyer, said: ‘I still don’t think the third runway is going to happen.’
John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said Mr Johnson would still be able to stop the scheme, adding: ‘Heathrow Ltd have squeaked out a belated legal win, but history has moved on.’