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Campaigners against a third runway at Heathrow have won the right for a public hearing to examine their case.
It sets the scene for a major showdown, probably this autumn, where protesters will argue a third runway will no longer be needed if high-speed rail goes ahead.
A coalition of green groups, residents and councils successfully fought in the High Court for a three-day public hearing into the case against the runway on the grounds of public interest.
The protesters said the Government had gone further than it should have done in approving BAA's bid to expand the west London airport.
They claim former transport secretary Geoff Hoon's statement to Parliament in January, in which he gave the green light to the third runway, was "fundamentally different" from the proposals on which the Government consulted.
They also claimed the decision was incompatible with the Government's climate change policy. The next stage of the battle will draw on comments by new Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis, that high-speed rail can replace some of the 100million short-haul flights from Heathrow each year, creating spare capacity.
Greenpeace executive director, John Sauven, said: "Brown's incoherent decision to expand Heathrow will be scrutinised further by the High Court and he could be forced to ditch this disastrous policy."
David Norman, director of campaigns at WWF-UK, said: "We are delighted that we will now have the opportunity to legally challenge the Government's flawed thinking in giving the third runway the go-ahead."
The RSPB also backed the move. Director of conservation Dr Mark Avery said: "We can already see the first harmful impacts of climate change on UK wildlife. The decision to press ahead with a third runway against such a backdrop is deeply flawed and we do not believe it will stand up to the scrutiny of the court."
Neil Sinden, policy and campaigns director at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: "This is an important step in overturning the Government's democratically dubious decision to bulldoze a third runway through a village."
The Department for Transport said: "We stand by the decisions made on Heathrow in January."
Reader views (2)
Trunk I think its called democracy and if anyone believes that BAA have behaved in an open and honest way with respect to Heathrow expansion, well lets just say they probably think the moon is made out of cheese. Its clera that on health grounds alone the operatio of Heathrow is nothing but a public evil, causing wide ranging illness (asthma rates in children), premature death in the elderly and significant mental and stress related illness to boot. The scandal is that Gordon Brown would seek to sweep all of that under the carpet and promote BAA a Monopoly company that is virtually bankrupt and BA a company in a 20th century mode of transport rather than seek to protect the lives of those 'hard working families' he fanes interest in. I am sure over time that the truth about Heathrow and the health deficits Londoners pay will come out and when they do I would not be wanting to be a shareholder in any aviation business that has supported its expansion or operation.
- Christian Ball, London, UK, 18/08/2009 00:55
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No harm in having a hearing. However we all know that if the decision does not go their way, the protesters will never stop. But hey, if that's how they want to spend the rest of their lives, that's their business.
- Trunk, US, 09/08/2009 21:37
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