At Heathrow legal hearings, Court told Grayling left thousands of people in the dark over the impact of Heathrow flight paths if expansion allowed

Date added: 12 March, 2019

Chris Grayling left thousands of people in the dark over increased noise pollution from an expanded Heathrow by under-stating the impact of new flight paths. At the High Court hearings, lawyers for five London councils, the London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Greenpeace claim this amounts to a breach of the law under which the Transport Secretary should have identified all areas that might be affected. The Councils say that instead of an environmental report showing which communities were going to be hit by noise from flights, Mr Grayling only published “indicative flight paths.”  They say “The flight paths were drawn in such a way that the numbers of people affected were minimised. This meant the health and environmental costs of the north west runway were understated.”  Maps compiled by the councils suggest as many as 1 million more households will be affected by planes at 7,000 ft, or below, with decibel levels of at least 65, (equivalent to a vacuum cleaner in a room). A vast circular area stretching from Didcot in the west, Dartford and Romford in the east, Tring, Harpenden and Welwyn Garden City to the north, and Godalming, Leatherhead, Epsom and Copthorne – and many more places – to the south would be affected. The NPS failed to deal properly with the impact on air quality, climate change, noise and congestion.

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Chris Grayling left thousands of people in the dark over the impact of expanded Heathrow flight paths, court told

By Charles Hymas, (home affairs editor, Telegraph)

Chris Grayling left thousands of people in the dark over increased noise pollution from an expanded Heathrow by understating the impact of new flight paths, the High Court will be told today.

Lawyers for five London councils, the London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Greenpeace claim this amounts to a breach of the law under which the Transport Secretary should have identified all areas that might be affected.

Instead of an environmental report showing which communities were going to be hit by noise from flights, Mr Grayling only published “indicative flight paths,” say the councils.

“The flight paths were drawn in such a way that the numbers of people affected were minimised. This meant the health and environmental costs of the north west runway were understated,” said Cllr Gareth Roberts, leader of Richmond Council, one of the five councils.

Maps, seen by The Daily Telegraph, suggest as many as 1m more households will be affected by planes at 7,000 ft with decibel levels of at least 65, equivalent to a vacuum cleaner in a room or a door on a noisy office being opened onto a quiet suburban garden.

The maps, compiled by the councils from Heathrow’s data, show a circular area affected stretching from Didcot in the west, Dartford and Romford in the east, Tring, Harpenden and Welwyn Garden City to the north, and Godalming and Copthorne to the south.

“The Secretary of State kept communities across south and west London in the dark about whether they would be affected by noise. If they couldn’t know they might be affected, they couldn’t be expected to respond to the consultation,” said Cllr Ravi Govindia, Wandsworth council leader.

The councils and Greenpeace claim the Government’s National Policy Statement (NPS) on Heathrow expansion fails to deal properly with the impact on air quality, climate change, noise and congestion.

They argue the NPS is unlawful and should be quashed, which would mean the Government would have to start the process again and put it to another vote in Parliament.

The court was told yesterday the extra 260,000 flights a year from building a new runway effectively created a “new airport” the size of Gatwick, with “severe” consequences for Londoners.

Nigel Pleming, QC, for the councils, said the plans could see the annual number of passengers rise to 132 million, up 60 per cent.

The councils also claim the Government has underestimated the impact of the increased traffic on pollution. They say daily passenger airport trips will increase by almost 100,000 to 370,000 a day, with freight journeys almost doubling to 36,500.

The councils say the Government’s own calculations suggest it would mean the UK continuing be at risk of breaching EU pollution limits in 2030.

“Even without further expansion, pollution levels in the area which already exceed statutory levels and will not be below legal limits for many years to come,” said Hillingdon council leader Ray Puddifoot.

The councils are one of five groups mounting judicial reviews, being heard over the next two weeks. They include Friends of the Earth, Plan B, Heathrow Hub and Neil Spurrier.

Lawyers representing Mr Grayling said the claimants’ case is “unarguable” and “premature”, as they will all have the opportunity to make representations at a later stage in the planning process.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/03/11/chris-grayling-left-thousands-people-dark-impact-expanded-heathrow/

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See also

 

Severe impact of 3rd Heathrow runway on residents laid out in High Court hearing

March 12, 2019

The Government’s approval of a third runway is being challenged at the High Court by a coalition of councils, residents, environmental charities and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.  Representing five London boroughs, Greenpeace and Mr Khan, Nigel Pleming QC said the plans could see the number of passengers using Heathrow rise to around 132 million, a 60% increase.  Mr Pleming said: “The new development, if it goes ahead, will add, in effect, a new airport with the capacity of Gatwick to the north of Heathrow” and that the adverse effects and consequences for local residents of such an expansion are “bound to be severe”. The legal challenges (other than the one by Heathrow Hub) say the Government’s National Policy Statement (NPS) setting out its support for the project fails to properly deal with the impact on air quality, climate change, noise and congestion.  The claimants argue the NPS is unlawful and should be quashed, which would mean the Government would have to start the process again and put it to another vote in Parliament. Scores of demonstrators gathered outside the court ahead of the hearing, addressed by MPs, Council leaders and campaigners. All are determined that this runways is NOT going to go ahead. The hearings will last for 2 weeks.

The transcript of the proceedings on the first day of the hearings, Monday 11th March, can be seen here:   https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/110319.txt

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Posted: Tuesday, March 12th, 2019. Filed in News about Airports, Noise News, Recent News.