Decision to rule plan for third Heathrow runway unlawful “a vindication of fight on behalf of our residents,” says Wandsworth council leader

By Sian Bayley, Local Democracy Reporter

The leader of Wandsworth council has declared victory after the Court of Appeal today ruled that plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport were unlawful because ministers did not adequately take into account the government’s climate change commitments.

Last year, Wandsworth and Richmond councils joined forces with Hillingdon, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Hammersmith and Fulham councils, alongside the Mayor of London and Greenpeace, to legally challenge the Government’s decision to favour a proposal for a new north-west runway at Heathrow.

The partnership was joined by others who supported the challenge with their own claims for Judicial Review.

Together they argued the Government’s decision to adopt its Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) was unlawful on several key grounds, including climate change, noise and air quality.

In May 2019 the Divisional Court refused all the applications for judicial review.

However, the council and its co-claimants applied to the Court of Appeal to overturn this judgment, which was heard in October last year.

In their ruling, the judges said that the Government failed to take into account its own climate change obligations under the Paris Agreement.

Lord Justice Lindblom said: “The Paris Agreement ought to have been taken into account by the Secretary of State. The National Planning Statement was not produced as the law requires.”

He said the government had seen the ruling in advance but did not seek permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Today’s announcement is a major blow to the government and Heathrow but does not explicitly prevent expansion from moving ahead, with the judge stating the court has not and could not decide if there will be no third runway at Heathrow.

This means that the third runway could go ahead in the future, as long as it fits with the UK’s climate policy.

Cllr Ravi Govindia, Leader of Wandsworth council, said today’s decision was a “vindication of what has been a long and protracted fight by this council on behalf of our residents”.

He added: “If this scheme had gone ahead unchallenged our residents’ lives would have been made a misery with the noise of planes giving people no respite and our environment polluted by more and more emissions, especially at a time when this council has declared a climate emergency and is working hard to deliver the vision to become the greenest inner-London borough and carbon neutral by 2030.”

A Heathrow spokesman said: “The Court of Appeal dismissed all appeals against the government – including on “noise” and “air quality” – apart from one which is eminently fixable. We will appeal to the Supreme Court on this one issue and are confident that we will be successful.”