Councils opposed to Heathrow’s expansion say today’s Supreme Court ruling changes nothing and called on the airport to abandon its bid for a third runway.

A group of local councils – Wandsworth, Hillingdon, Richmond upon Thames, Hammersmith and Fulham and Windsor and Maidenhead together with the Mayor of London and Greenpeace – had challenged the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) alongside environmental groups Plan B and Friends of the Earth.

However, on Wednesday (Dec 16), the Supreme Court agreed with Heathrow Airport Limited that the former Secretary of State acted lawfully when considering the impact of the Paris Agreement.

The ruling confirmed that the airport would be bound to comply with the UK’s revised carbon targets when, and if, it seeks to obtain planning permission for a third runway.

Wandsworth and Richmond Councils criticised the decision, urging Heathrow to concentrate on working with the aviation industry to achieve zero carbon emissions and an end to night flights.

Leader of Wandsworth Council, Cllr Ravi Govindia, said:

“The ruling does not give Heathrow a green light for a third runway. It says nothing about how expansion could be delivered in the face of legally binding emissions targets.

“The world has changed since Chris Grayling’s decision in 2018. Heathrow will never be able to build a third runway. It’s time for the airport to admit defeat and put all its energy into working with the aviation industry to achieve the net zero goal.

“The Government must now as a matter of urgency produce a new aviation strategy for the UK which properly takes account of its legal commitment on emissions reductions.

“Local people have lived with the threat of expansion for years and the added noise, congestion and air pollution this would bring.

“The airport should own up to the damage it has caused to people’s lives and start making serious efforts to reduce the local noise impacts for people living under the flightpath.

They could begin by telling the Government that is willing to phase out all early morning arrivals. These are the night flights that disrupt people’s sleep and put their health at risk.”

The councils also called for a complete rethink of how noise is measured so that it can fairly reflect the annoyance suffered by individual communities.

The Department for Transport launched a new night flights consultation last week which will run until March 3, 2022. At this stage it is proposing no changes to the numbers of aircraft currently arriving before 6am.

Cllr Gareth Roberts, Leader of Richmond Council, added:

“Covid has changed everything. Even Heathrow’s chief executive has admitted that a new runway would not be needed for years due to the pandemic.

“The Government must now urgently review where future capacity is most needed – but this must be based on its commitments to legally-binding emissions targets and a UK-wide approach that properly reflects regional priorities.

“The Council’s priority is to protect the environment for its residents and achieve measurable and lasting improvements in their quality of life.

“This means a permanent end to night flights and the adoption of tougher measures to limit noise impacts. This should include rejecting the practice of ‘route concentration’ as a means of squeezing in more flights over densely populated areas. All this does is both increase noise and emissions.

“As local councils we want the industry to get back on its feet. This doesn’t mean a return to the days of uncontrolled expansion. Those days are gone. Heathrow, like the rest of the sector, has to work within the context of legally binding emissions targets and heightened public awareness of environmental impacts.”