Heathrow’s third runway back on track as Supreme Court rules in favour

Plans for a third runway at Heathrow were given a reprieve today as the UK’s highest court overturned a decision against the expansion.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the government’s approval of the scheme, which was outlined in the Airports National Policy Statement, was lawful. This means the £14bn project can proceed - if the airport still wishes to expand given the drop-off in demand due to the covid-19 pandemic.

The panel of five justices overruled the decision made by the Court of Appeal in February. They decided that former transport secretary Chris Grayling had acted within the law when he approved the scheme by relying on domestic legislation – rather than the Paris climate agreement.

The plans were initially approved by parliament in 2018 before being blocked by judges this year.

In that landmark ruling, lawyers for environmental campaign groups Plan B and Friends of the Earth persuaded the Court of Appeal that Grayling had failed to take into account the UK’s commitments as a signatory of the Paris agreement.

The Court of Appeal ruled that the national policy statement supporting the scheme was “necessarily incompatible” with the UK’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions as part of the Paris agreement.

It was the first court ruling in the world to be based on the Paris agreement and, despite fears that it might trigger challenges to other major infrastructure projects, the government did not challenge the decision.

Heathrow’s lawyers argued at the Supreme Court that Grayling was not obliged to consider the agreement when drafting the Heathrow policy. Lord Anderson QC told the court that it could not constitute domestic policy as it was a “global aim”.

He added: “The Paris agreement sets a global long-term temperature goal, not national targets, and a global aim is incapable of being government policy for the purposes of assessing carbon effects of an individual development scheme.”

While the Supreme Court’s decision will be welcomed by those behind the project and the industry there is some doubt about whether the project will proceed given the reduced demand across the aviation sector. Plans to expand and enhance Stansted and Birmingham airports have been put on hold this year because of the pandemic.

While there may have been a drop-off in demand in the aviation sector, the construction industry will be keen for the expansion to go ahead given the secure pipeline of work it will provide.

Grimshaw, the architect behind the scheme, began consulting with staff over possible redundancies after the Court of Appeal decision. The practice said more than 20 staff were likely to lose their jobs, although some of these people have since been redeployed.

In a statement Grimshaw said: “We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision, and hope that it helps to give confidence to UK airports to build towards a more sustainable futurehas been approached for comment but management are currently understood to be locked in talks about the development.”