Gatwick runway plan boosted by consultation on Heathrow air quality
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Version 0 of 1. Gatwick was given a boost in the battle for a new runway on Friday, as the airports commission unexpectedly reopened its public consultation to focus on air quality – after an election which returned a strengthened cohort of anti-Heathrow Conservative MPs in government. With the commission’s recommendation on whether to expand either Gatwick or Heathrow expected within the next eight weeks, the decision to consult further was seized on by Gatwick as a “showstopper” for Heathrow. The move comes after a recent supreme court ruling said Britain needed to do more to tackle air pollution, after it consistently failed to meet EU limits. The commission said it was inviting the public to review supplementary, detailed evidence that it had collated on air quality, but the timing fuelled aviation industry concerns that a decision on a politically toxic issue may be further delayed. The Conservative manifesto promised nothing more than to “respond” to the conclusions of the commission, which was set up in 2012 after the coalition blocked previous plans for a third runway. Several leading Tories, including Boris Johnson, newly elected as MP for Uxbridge, and members of the previous cabinet, are vehemently opposed to Heathrow expansion, and many local MPs such as Zac Goldsmith campaigned explicitly on an anti-expansion ticket. A block of Conservative MPs around Gatwick also oppose expansion at the Sussex airport, though perhaps not as vehemently. A source close to the commission said it was still confident that it would deliver its report by the end of June. The chairman, Sir Howard Davies, has said he will conclude his duties by that deadline before taking up a new job as the chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland in September. According to the source, the timing of the consultation, soon after the supreme court ruling, was coincidental. Gatwick claimed that the timing of the consultation on air quality was highly significant. Stewart Wingate, chief executive of the airport, said: “It shows that the issue has now become fundamental to the choice that lies ahead. It is an issue that cannot be ignored. “The area around Heathrow currently breaches legal air quality limits and it defies common sense that a third runway – with hundreds of thousands of extra car journeys that it would bring – is the solution to the problem. Air quality has been a showstopper for Heathrow before and it is now clear that it will be again. “In contrast, Gatwick has never breached legal air quality limits and its location means it can guarantee that it never will.” However, the airports commission said: “We said in our November consultation report that we would supplement the air quality modelling with more detailed dispersion modelling. That work, which provides information about the air quality implications and the scope for mitigation for each proposal has now been done. “The commission has not reached any decisions and we invite comment on this work from all interested parties. The commission intends to deliver its recommendation this summer in line with its terms of reference.” The commission said its revised evidence did not substantially alter its earlier findings, that an expanded Heathrow would continue to breach air quality limits, but amended some details of the pollution levels and locations. Heathrow said that the report showed that, with the assistance of mitigation measures it is developing, the airport could manage to stay within EU pollution limits. John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow airport, said: “It shows that our plan, which has been produced with local community views at its core, can be delivered without exceeding air quality limits.” The consultation will run for three weeks until the end of May, and may pre-empt potential legal action from opponents of airport expansion who have argued that Davies has not paid sufficient attention to environmental concerns on a range of issues, including whether Britain can meet its climate change targets. John Stewart, chair of anti-expansion group HACAN, said: “The commission seems to be saying that a third runway would not make an already bad situation any worse – but many people would question whether that’s a realistic assessment.” Tim Johnson, the director of the Aviation Environment Federation, said: “Air pollution was a major showstopper for airport expansion last time around and it could be again in 2015. A quick decision cannot be expected until the new government has had time to consider this and other notable gaps in the Commission’s analysis.” |