Councils and campaign groups win key judicial review case against Heathrow runway

A group of councils and campaign groups have won a key judicial review case against the government, forcing it to hold further consultations before beginning work on the controversial third runway at Heathrow.

In his ruling, High Court judge Lord Justice Carnwath ruled that the 2003 Air Transport White Paper – in which the third runway was first proposed - was “obsolete” because of the subsequent Climate Change Act 2008.

He said that for the government to continue with the third runway, it must now review the climate change implications of Heathrow expansion, the economic case for a third runway, and the issue of how additional passengers would get to a bigger airport. He also called on the government to ensure that future aviation policy takes into account the implications of the 2008 Climate Change Act.

Lord Justice Carnwath said that he would be “surprised” if the recent tripling of the estimated cost to society of emitting carbon did not have “a significant effect” on the economic case for the runway and said that "it makes no sense to treat the economic case as settled in 2003."

The claimants were Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Richmond upon Thames, Wandsworth and Windsor & Maidenhead councils as well as Greenpeace, the Council for the Protection of Rural England, the World Wildlife Fund UK, local residents group and aircraft noise campaigners HACAN. They were supported by The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Transport for London and the Mayor of London. The local authorities are all members of the 2M Group which comprises 24 local councils opposed to Heathrow expansion with a combined population of 5 million.

Lord Justice Carnforth also accepted the claimants' argument that there is no credible plan in place to transport millions of extra passengers to an expanded Heathrow. However, he did not order the government to cancel the project and has adjourned the case until next month to allow the parties to make submissions on what formal orders the High Court should make.

While accepting the need to revisit the policy issues surrounding the decision to build the third runway, the government has promised to continue with the project. Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, told the BBC: "A new runway at Heathrow will help secure jobs and underpin economic growth as we come out of recession. It is also entirely compatible with our carbon reduction target, as demonstrated in the recent report by the Committee on Climate Change."