Campaigners win judicial review of aviation white paper

Friday, 18 February 2005 12:00 AM

Residents near Stansted Airport must be given a say over the location of a second runway and the amount of land the runway uses, the High Court has ruled today.

Campaigners welcomed the decision as a "victory for local democracy".

This was the first time that the courts have allowed a judicial review of a white paper. This review can only challenge specific short-comings in the decision making process, not the actual content of the white paper.

Proposed Government plans for new runways across England were deemed to be otherwise lawful and Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said he was "pleased" with the ruling.

Mr Darling said: "I am pleased the High Court has upheld the case for two additional runways in the south-east of England at Heathrow and Stansted and rejected calls for that part of the Air Transport White Paper to be quashed.

"The Government has always accepted that the exact positioning and capacity of the runways at Stansted and Luton will be decided by the normal planning process.

"Implementation of the policy set out in the White Paper remains on course and we will report on progress in 2006."

A coalition of campaigners had been fighting Government plans that would see the expansion of major airports including Heathrow, Luton and Stansted.

Though the court did not overturn the white paper itself, or the Government's airport expansion programme, it will hamper plans to build a second runway at Stansted.

Peter Sanders, chairman of Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE) described the decision as "a vindication of what we have said all along about the White Paper being fundamentally flawed and an important milestone in our battle to prevent BAA from ever building a second runway at Stansted."

"However," continued Mr Sanders, "the High Court decision has the perverse effect of creating even more uncertainty for the local community in the foreseeable future. Fairness demands that the Government should now completely withdraw its support for major expansion at Stansted and that BAA should also do the decent thing and publicly announce that it will not be proceeding with its plans for a second runway."

He said they would be examining whether to appeal against some aspects of today's decision.

HACAN ClearSkies, which represents residents living under the Heathrow flight path, said that today's ruling was a major set back to the Government's airport expansion plans.

Chairman John Stewart, said: "This judgment represents a setback for the Government. Although the judge has not overturned the White Paper, the Department for Transport will struggle to put a positive spin on its findings. Two of its key proposals - at Stansted and Luton - have been knocked back. The 30 Year White Paper was meant to be the jewel in the Government's aviation crown. Instead it is limping along like a battered old ram."

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