Heathrow airport expansion: third runway unanimously backed by ministers

Heathrow Airport is to undergo a major expansion
Heathrow Airport/PA Wire

A third runway at Heathrow was backed by Theresa May and the Cabinet today — but the decision was immediately met with a storm of protests and legal challenges.

The £16 billion plan will increase the number of flights at Europe’s busiest airport to more than 700,000 a year by 2030.

Theresa May told the Evening Standard it was a decision made “for jobs and growth” and showed that post-Brexit Britain will be an “open, global, successful country”.

In a day of critical importance to Londoners:

  • A Cabinet sub-committee chaired by the Prime Minister came to a “unanimous” decision for a third runway, sources revealed. It met from 8.30am to 9.40am and had what one source called “a thorough and robust debate” on all three options: a third runway at Heathrow, a second at Gatwick and the rival Heathrow Hub plan. 

  • It emerged that a plan to reduce levels of air pollution will be published, which the Cabinet decided satisfied the need to deal with levels of toxicity that currently breach EU legal limits.

  • Unusually high levels of compensation to homeowners were being promised by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling in his official announcement to the Commons. The payouts given for the 800 homes to be demolished and others blighted will be “world class”, in an attempt to buy off those forced to move.

  • Business leaders voiced delight but warned any further delays would endanger London’s economic future.

  • Opponents said Heathrow will now be a 2020 general election issue and four Tory councils, including Mrs May’s own local authority of Windsor and Maidenhead, announced legal actions on the grounds that current illegal levels of air pollution levels should rule out expansion.

  • Divisions were on show today with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Justine Greening both given permission to dissent in public to avoid them resigning.

  • Zac Goldsmith will resign his Commons seat this afternoon or tomorrow, friends said. The Richmond Park MP will force a by-election billed as a local “referendum” on the runway plan.

Speaking to the Standard after the Cabinet met, the Prime Minister said: “After decades of delay we are showing that we will take the big decisions when they’re the right decisions for Britain, and we will ensure they’re right for ordinary working people too.

“Airport expansion is vital for the economic future of the whole of the UK and today also provides certainty to Londoners. Businesses will know that we are building the infrastructure they need to access global markets.

"Ordinary, working people will know that my Government backs jobs and growth."

“We want the benefits of a new runway as quickly as possible, but we will also make sure London and taxpayers get a good deal.”

She indicated the third runway plan includes commitments to increase the number of flights to Scotland and regional airports, adding: “By making sure we improve the links between regional airports and our capital city we can use airport expansion as an opportunity to bring the UK closer together.

Heathrow Airport through the years - In pictures

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“This decision demonstrates that as we leave the EU we can make a success of Brexit and Britain can be that open, global, successful country we all want it to be.”

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced new moves to speed up improvements in air quality - but he did not set a firm date for toxicity levels to come within legal limits.

He told the Evening Standard: “This is a problem we have to solve long before we get to the point of a new runway opening.

“Our strategy is to address the issue of emissions in the short term rather than the long term. We think our national air quality plan will enable this project to meet air quality limits. But our ambitions are much bigger than that - we want to address air quality across the whole country.”

But asked if he would set a firm date for air quality to be within limits, Mr Grayling said emission levels would “drop as rapidly as we can achieve”.

A new working group with the Treasury and Defra to make changes to the National Air Quality Plan.

Mr Grayling said independent advice had concluded that the airport would conform to national standards. In addition, Heathrow was committing to limit cars to current levels and to boost public transport use.

On the Cabinet committee discussion, he said: “We gave it long and hard thought before resolving unanimously that the North West runway option would be the best for the country.

“It sends the clearest message since the referendum that Britain is open for business and outward-facing. This provides the best linkage to the trade opportunities we will have around the world.”

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “We welcome the news that Heathrow is the Government’s preferred site for a new runway and look forward to hearing the full details later from the Transport Secretary.

“Expansion of Heathrow is the only option that will connect all the UK to global growth, helping to build a stronger and fairer economy.

“We await the full details, but Heathrow stands ready to work with Government, businesses, airlines and our local communities to deliver an airport that is fair, affordable and secures the benefits of expansion for the whole of the UK.”

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes & Harlington, said: “Building a third runway would be devastating for local residents who face losing their homes, schools, community centre and village life.

“It also remains a disaster for air pollution, noise levels and our efforts to tackle climate change.”

Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said the runway would be “a waste of time, money and lives”.

He added: “It will make Londoners’ air more dangerous to breathe.”

Tania Mathias, the Twickenham MP, said she would “carry on fighting” but was staying in the Commons.

John Allan, chairman of business group London First, said: “The most important thing is to get on with it. Even though it is only a step in the road, it is a very important step in the road.”

Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “I am relieved that the decision has finally been made and firmly believe it is the right one.

“The constant dithering over a decision in past years has risked damaging British business but now we finally have the chance to act to future-proof the UK economy.”

But a former Cabinet minister predicted a “lost decade” for firms because the third runway would be mired in protests and legal disputes.

Former Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers, who backs Gatwick, said: “I fear we will have another lost decade in terms of airport expansion ... just like Gordon Brown and Geoff Hoon [the former prime minister and transport secretary who backed Heathrow expansion] did 10 years ago.”

She said supporters of Gatwick’s second runway proposals would use every avenue to force the Government into another U-turn, adding: “There’s still time to persuade the Government that Heathrow expansion is wrong and we should go for Gatwick instead.”

Mayor Sadiq Khan, who was elected on an anti-Heathrow expansion manifesto, said: “This is the wrong decision for London and the whole of Britain. The Government are running roughshod over Londoners’ views.

“I will continue to challenge this decision and I am exploring how I can best be involved in any legal process over the coming months.”

He warned: “A new runway at Heathrow will be devastating for air quality across London. Heathrow already exposes more people to aircraft noise than Paris CDG, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Munich and Madrid combined.

Timeline: Heathrow airport

1930: Aircraft builder Richard Fairey pays £15,000 to the vicar of Harmondsworth for a 150-acre plot to build a private airport, the Great West Aerodrome.

1940: The Government takes over the whole site and requisitions extra farmland and demolishes the village of Heath Row to create RAF Heston. 

1946: London airport officially opens on the site, served by three grass runways and a tent for a terminal.

1955: The first permanent terminal building opens, and Heathrow Airport expands rapidly over the next 30 years, to four terminals. Campaigning for a third runway begins during the 1990s.

2003: Labour publishes a white paper proposing a third runway and sixth terminal. 

2008: Terminal 5 opens.

2008: David Cameron attacks Gordon Brown for “pig-headedly” backing a third runway and later pledges the Conservatives would cancel it.

2009: Labour approves a third runway, including plans to raise number of flights from 480,000 to more than 700,000 a year. Mayor Boris Johnson condemns the decision and launches campaign for Boris Island airport in the Thames Estuary. Twenty-eight Labour MPs rebel.

2010: Labour loses the general election and the Coalition promises to cancel the third runway. Protesters are ecstatic. Labour U-turns a year later and rules out a third runway.

2012: Under pressure from business leaders, Cameron and George Osborne change their minds. Amid fierce political arguments, runway opponent Justine Greening is reshuffled out of Transport and Sir Howard Davies is appointed to head the Airport Commission to recommend one site for expansion.

2015: The Davies Commission recommends a third runway at Heathrow.  Cameron puts off a Government decision repeatedly.

2016: Theresa May takes over and promises a decision before the end of October.

“A third runway would mean an extra 200,000 people impacted, exposing 124 more schools and 43,200 more schoolchildren to an unacceptable level of noise.”

John Stewart of campaign group Hacan, which has opposed a new runway at Heathrow, said: “Countless residents will be dismayed and distraught by this decision.

"Some will lose their homes. Some face the daunting prospect of living under a noisy flight path for the first time.

“But real doubts must remain whether this new runway will ever see the light of day. The hurdles it faces remain: costs, noise, air pollution and widespread opposition including an expected legal challenge from the local authorities.”

One of Mr Johnson’s closest allies went further by warning the third runway would be an issue at the 2020 general election.

Former City Hall aviation adviser, Daniel Moylan, a Gatwick backer, said final planning permission would not be given until 2021 “They keep coming forward with proposals, they always fail,” he said. “And instead of learning their lessons, they have another go at the brick wall.”

Campaigner Rob Gray, of Back Heathrow, said: “This is a significant moment for thousands of residents living near Heathrow who back expansion because they have waited a long time for today’s news.

"This is a golden opportunity for the UK that must not be squandered.”

Opponents of Gatwick expansion were thrilled. “This clear decision will put an end to the years of uncertainty,” said Sally Pavey, chair of anti-runway group CAGNE.

The go-ahead is a new landmark after 40 years of arguments. The £20 million Davies Commission backed a third runway last year, but David Cameron delayed a decision.

The commission estimated a third runway could boost the economy by £147 billion and would generate between 59,000 and 79,000 jobs around London. It is backed by around two-thirds of MPs nationally.

Questions today continued over the £5 billion bill for transport improvements, which Transport for London says would be more than £15 billion.

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