UK: Judicial review of Heathrow airport third runway decision begins

Five judicial reviews challenging the legality of the government’s decision to allow a third runway at Heathrow airport have begun in the high court. Protesters against the decision by the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, to approve the expansion demonstrated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on Monday before the start of the hearing. One of the legal actions is being taken by a coalition of Greenpeace, the mayor of London and local councils – including the prime minister’s local authority, Windsor and Maidenhead – which will be affected by noise and pollution from the increased flights. In another action, Friends of the Earth is alleging that the government’s decision to allow the expansion is unlawful because it failed to take account of the need to mitigate climate change under the Paris agreement. Nigel Pleming QC, representing the boroughs, said the plans could see the number of passengers using the airport rise to an estimated 132m, an increase of 60%. He told the court Heathrow is the “busiest two-runway airport in the world” and is situated in a densely populated area. Pleming said: “If the [third runway] is the means of achieving expansion, there will be widespread consequences. There will be hundreds of thousands of additional flights each year across central London, and also affecting the south-east.<br/>