Campaigners say Heathrow ruling will block airport expansion
28.03.10
Campaigners opposed to the £150m expansion of Bristol Airport say the plans could be thrown out in the light of a High Court ruling on the third runway at Heathrow. Anti-expansion campaigners say the ruling that the Government must rethink its support for the third runway in the light of its own policy on climate change may also apply to plans to develop Bristol.
The campaigners say the decision by Lord Justice Carnwath throws the 2003 Aviation White Paper - the policy document that called for expansion at Heathrow, Bristol and other UK airports - into doubt. However, Bristol Airport bosses rejected the claims, and insist the High Court case is ‘very specific to Heathrow'.
Lord Justice Carnwath said the Government's support for a third runway, made in the 2003 paper and confirmed in January last year, needs to be looked at again - which means a brand new paper and consultations, which may take years - in the light of the Climate Change Act 2008, which sets targets for emissions. The judge stated he was not in a position to hold that the factors amounted to a ‘show-stopper - in the sense that the one rational response would be to abandon the whole project’ and refused to quash the Government's decision to ‘confirm policy support’ for a third runway.
Add to: del.icio.us | Digg it | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
To book a bristol airport hotel or bristol airport car park at the lowest price, click on these links to two great bristol airport car parking and bristol airport hotel price comparison pages