Heathrow runway opponents start legal fight
By politics.co.uk staff
Opponents of a new runway at Heathrow will start the next stage of their fight against the policy today with a high court legal battle.
A range of environmental groups, celebrities, London councils and local residents will be present at the start of the judicial review.
Their lawyers will argue that the government’s approval of the runway was unlawful and strayed from the proposals contained in the original consultation.
The claim that expansion will not affect the UK’s battle against climate change will be branded an effort to mislead parliament and the public, lawyers are expected to argue.
“Labour’s support for a third runway leaves them more isolated by the day,” Theresa Villiers, shadow transport secretary said.
“Having ignored key advisers, like the Environment Agency, and reverse engineered figures to get the answers ministers wanted, it was only a matter of time before a serious legal challenge was made on Labour’s flawed decision to support runway three.”
The government and BAA say a third runway would not breach air and noise quality limits.
The WWF, Greenpeace, the RSPB and the Campaign to Protect Rural England are all backing the legal challenge.
