Heathrow third runway plans dealt massive blow
Planning application cannot be lodged before general election, meaning Tories could scrap scheme
guardian.co.uk, Friday 27 March 2009 11.14 GMT
The chances of a third runway being built at Heathrow airport have been dealt a serious blow after a government document warned that BAA cannot lodge a planning application for the project before the next general election.
The Conservatives — who are well ahead of Labour in the polls — have pledged to block a new landing strip at the UK's busiest international airport. The admission gives a Tory administration ample time to draft a new aviation policy that will block BAA's plans.
According to a presentation by the Department for Transport, seen by the Guardian, BAA is not expected to seek planning permission for a third runway until 2012. The last possible date for a general election is 3 June 2010 and BAA's best hope for expanding Heathrow is to submit an application by then.
However, executives at the airport group have conceded that it will be impossible to compile the plans and data necessary for an application by that date. Under the DfT timetable, any BAA planning application is likely to be submitted under a Tory administration that has vowed to obstruct Heathrow's expansion.
The DfT presentation deals a further blow to BAA's ambitions by conceding that the government document that must underpin a planning request for major infrastructure, a national policy statement, will not be ready until 2011. A national policy statement is a key guide for any planning decision by the Infrastructure Planning Commission, the newly created body that will evaluate a Heathrow proposal.
Anti-expansion campaigners said the DfT document confirmed that the odds of Heathrow getting a third runway were diminishing. "There is no way that BAA can get planning permission before the next general election. The chances that a third runway will never be built are increasing all the time," said John Stewart, chair of the Hacan ClearSkies campaign group.
Plans to expand Stansted are also in doubt after the Competition Commission questioned whether BAA ought to push ahead with plans for a second runway at the Essex airport. The government has postponed a public inquiry into a second runway at Stansted while it considers the implications of a commission investigation into BAA. The commission recommended this month that BAA ought to sell Gatwick, Stansted and one of its Scottish airports.
A BAA spokesman said the group had yet to confirm a schedule for submitting a planning application for a third Heathrow runway. A Department for Transport spokesman said: "Following the decisions announced in January, it is now for BAA to develop and submit a planning application, the timing of which is entirely for them to decide."
Planning application cannot be lodged before general election, meaning Tories could scrap scheme
guardian.co.uk, Friday 27 March 2009 11.14 GMT
The chances of a third runway being built at Heathrow airport have been dealt a serious blow after a government document warned that BAA cannot lodge a planning application for the project before the next general election.
The Conservatives — who are well ahead of Labour in the polls — have pledged to block a new landing strip at the UK's busiest international airport. The admission gives a Tory administration ample time to draft a new aviation policy that will block BAA's plans.
According to a presentation by the Department for Transport, seen by the Guardian, BAA is not expected to seek planning permission for a third runway until 2012. The last possible date for a general election is 3 June 2010 and BAA's best hope for expanding Heathrow is to submit an application by then.
However, executives at the airport group have conceded that it will be impossible to compile the plans and data necessary for an application by that date. Under the DfT timetable, any BAA planning application is likely to be submitted under a Tory administration that has vowed to obstruct Heathrow's expansion.
The DfT presentation deals a further blow to BAA's ambitions by conceding that the government document that must underpin a planning request for major infrastructure, a national policy statement, will not be ready until 2011. A national policy statement is a key guide for any planning decision by the Infrastructure Planning Commission, the newly created body that will evaluate a Heathrow proposal.
Anti-expansion campaigners said the DfT document confirmed that the odds of Heathrow getting a third runway were diminishing. "There is no way that BAA can get planning permission before the next general election. The chances that a third runway will never be built are increasing all the time," said John Stewart, chair of the Hacan ClearSkies campaign group.
Plans to expand Stansted are also in doubt after the Competition Commission questioned whether BAA ought to push ahead with plans for a second runway at the Essex airport. The government has postponed a public inquiry into a second runway at Stansted while it considers the implications of a commission investigation into BAA. The commission recommended this month that BAA ought to sell Gatwick, Stansted and one of its Scottish airports.
A BAA spokesman said the group had yet to confirm a schedule for submitting a planning application for a third Heathrow runway. A Department for Transport spokesman said: "Following the decisions announced in January, it is now for BAA to develop and submit a planning application, the timing of which is entirely for them to decide."
