Judges grant order against Heathrow third runway

Campaigners against a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport have won a ruling in the Court of Appeal that the statutory policy statement supporting the project was not produced lawfully as it failed to take account of the UK Government's commitments in relation to climate change.

Lord Justice Lindblom, Lord Justice Singh and Lord Justice Haddon-Cave allowed an appeal by Friends of the Earth and local campaign groups from a ruling of the Divisional Court, and granted a declaration preventing the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), prepared under s 5(1) of the Planning Act 2008, from having any legal effect unless and until the Secretary of State undertakes a review of it in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions, including the provisions of ss 6, 7 and 9 of the Act.

The appeal failed on most of the grounds brought, including legitimate expectation and various grounds concerning competition law, and environmental issues including the operation of the Habitats Directive. However the judges upheld a case that s 5(8) of the Planning Act, which requires that the reasons for the policy set out in the ANPS “must... include an explanation of how the policy set out in the statement takes account of Government policy relating to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change”, had not been fully complied with by reason of a failure to take into account the Government’s commitment to the provisions of the Paris Agreement on climate change concluded in December 2015.

The court emphasised that it was not concerned with the political debate over the runway, and in particular with whether there could be a third runway at all. "We have not found that a national policy statement supporting this project is necessarily incompatible with the United Kingdom’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change under the Paris Agreement, or with any other policy the Government may adopt or international obligation it may undertake."

But the successful ground of challenge was "legally fatal to the ANPS in its present form". In consequence,  the Government would have the opportunity to reconsider the ANPS in accordance with the clear statutory requirements that Parliament had imposed. 

The judges also noted that, having seen their judgment in draft, the Government had not opposed the grant of a remedy, or sought permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court. 

Click here to access the judgment and related papers.