Work not expected to start until 2021
Lawyers are warning of years of legal battles before construction can start on building a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
The decision was approved this morning by a cabinet committee 鈥� chaired by prime minister Theresa May 鈥� but MPs will only get to vote on the recommendation some time in winter 2017/18 鈥� after a public consultation on the issue.
Environmental group Greenpeace has already warned it will take legal action against the plan and Liz Jenkins, infrastructure partner at Clyde & Co, warned: 鈥淎part from the political opposition, there will be opposition from activist local residents, local authorities and environmentalists on a host of legal, planning and regulatory issues, such as noise and emissions.鈥�
Greenpeace executive director John Sauven admitted: 鈥淲e stand ready, with four Conservative local authorities, including Theresa May鈥檚 own council, to bring a judicial review against a green light for a third runway.鈥�
And London Assembly Green party member Caroline Russell said the environmental lobby would take the government to task over breaches to last December鈥檚 global climate deal agreed at Paris.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no way expansion should even be on the table when air pollution in Heathrow already exceeds legal limits,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is a bad decision that will accelerate climate change and makes a mockery of the Government鈥檚 announcement to ratify the Paris Agreement.鈥�
Jenkins said that giving MPs up to 18 months to look at the issues before a binding vote in the House of Commons was 鈥渆xcessive鈥� and risked even more hold-ups.
She said: 鈥淭oday鈥檚 announcement is a something of a false dawn. The year-long period before the government puts its decision to a vote of parliament seems excessive and likely to cause further delay.鈥�
Giles Kavanagh, head of global aerospace at law firm Holman Fenwick Willan, commented: 鈥淭his decision is an attempt to end years of uncertainty. But actually in choosing the third runway at Heathrow, this is the one option that will create more uncertainty - and be the most likely to spark legal challenges.
鈥淭he one certainty that remains is that it will be years before any shovel hits this ground.鈥�
Meanwhile, Nicholas Dennys QC of Atkin Chambers, commented: 鈥淢ajor airport infrastructure projects have not always met the challenging timetable that has been set for them by politicians.
鈥淭he terminal in Doha was finally opened after more than three years of postponement for example. And so the chances of a third runway at Heathrow being delivered within the Government鈥檚 publicly stated timetable seems fanciful.鈥�
Construction is not expected to start until 2021 ahead of the runway becoming operational four years later.
Today鈥檚 decision follows the recommendation made last summer by the Davies Commission, set up in 2012 by former prime minister David Cameron, which said expanding Heathrow was the 鈥渂est answer鈥� to the issue of increasing the country鈥檚 airport capacity.
But it recommended a series of measures be put in place to make expansion more acceptable to the local community.
鈥淸This] includes a ban on night flights,鈥� it said, 鈥渕ore reliable respite for overflown communities, a legally-enforced 鈥榥oise envelope鈥�, a statutory independent aviation noise authority, and a noise levy to fund a far stronger and more generous set of compensation and mitigation schemes. New measures to ensure acceptable air quality around the airport will also be needed.鈥�
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