Legal Challenge to Third Runway Begins
Protest groups call for a show of strength outside court
CGI image of how extended airport might look
The first hearing for all the legal challenges to building the Third Runway at Heathrow will be heard in the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand this Thursday 4 October.
The hearing of the 4 October will determine which, if any, of the six legal challenges launched against Parliament’s decision to back a third runway at Heathrow will be allowed to go forward to a full hearing.
The claimants are: 5 councils (Hillingdon, Wandsworth, Richmond, Hammersmith & Fulham and Windsor & Maidenhead, plus Greenpeace and Mayor of London) Friends of the Earth, Plan B Earth, Heathrow Hub, Neil Spurrier.
The cases will be heard by Mr Justice Holgate, a judge with expertise in planning law.
The hearings, themselves, are likely to be in March 2019.
Campaigners will gather outside the Courts of Justice in the Strand from 9am, including Chiswick Against Third Runway CHATR. They have asked for campaigners to join them at Turnham Green Tube at 8.30am on Thursday 4th October where CHATR will provide banners before they head to Temple for the protest.
The two main challenges come from five local authorities, backed by Greenpeace and the Mayor of London; and from Heathrow Hub, which had put forward an alternative plan for expansion to a third runway at Heathrow.
It is not known whether Mr Justice Holgate will make a decision which cases qualify for a full hearing on 4th October or whether he will reserve judgment until a later date. The qualifying criteria are tight. Applicants must show that the process which led up to Parliament’s decision last June was flawed. Any full hearing it is expected to take place towards the end of this year or early next year.
John Stewart chair of HACAN, the campaign group which has opposed a third runway but which is not party to any of the cases said, “Legal challenges are a major headache for any Government because it can't control the outcome. This one is no exception. The best laid plans of politicians can come unstuck in the courts.”
Paul McGuinness, Chair of the No 3rd Runway Coalition, said: "The legal actions against the government's decision to expand Heathrow is supported by a very large number of communities, who firmly believe that the negative environmental impact of this highly disruptive airport should not be allowed to grow.
“Having ignored evidence, such as the report of parliament's Transport Select Committee, the decision to expand Heathrow was always going to end up in the courts, under judicial review, and we are delighted that the process has now started and welcome this decisive action by a number of parties.”
October 3, 2018