LONDON – Those who opposed the construction of a third runway in London’s Heathrow are set to hear if their legal appeal against the decision that the government made regarding the expansion of Europe’s biggest airport has been heard.
Almost five decades have been spent by Britain on making the decision whether a new runway is needed in southeast England’s densely populated area.
If it does open, it shall be the London area’s first full-length runway in 70 years.
In May 2019, a High Court judge ruled that the arguments made by the environmentalists were not to be accepted and he did not believe that it was unlawful on the part of the government’s transport minister to approve this expansion.
Groups of environmentalists, local authorities and the London Mayor have appealed the decision stating that this expansion is incompatible with the country’s climate change and environmental commitments.
Other than these, development consortium Heathrow Hub has appealed too, on the grounds that the government must at least consider its proposals for a runway extension rather than the construction of a new one.
The verdict is to be delivered by the Court of Appeal by Thursday and after that, any party can appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
In 2018, the decision received 415 to 119 in favour of construction of the new runway. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, however, has opposed the expansion.
During Johnson’s election campaign last year, he stated that he would have to lie down in front of bulldozers to honour an old promise to stop the expansion.
“Parliament has voted in principle to support a third runway at Heathrow but it is a private sector project. In order to proceed, Heathrow must demonstrate that it can meet its air-quality and noise obligations, that the project can be financed and built, and that the business case is realistic.”
– PM Boris Johnson’s spokesman
In December last year, Heathrow announced a possible delay of a year in the airport’s expansion plans. This was because the British aviation regulator had said that it could not increase early construction cost expenditure to keep it in the track.
As of now, the due completion date for the third runway is between early 2028 and late 2029.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.