TIME TO SCRAP RUNWAY PLANS
Following a high court judge’s ruling against the decision to approve Heathrow’s 3rd runway local environmental campaigners said the same should apply to plans for the expansion of Birmingham International Airport.
Lord Justice Carnwath ruled that the 2003 Air Transport White Paper – the foundation of expansion plans across the country – is obsolete because it is inconsistent with the Climate Change Act 2008.
The government must prepare a national policy statement, required to establish the case for major infrastructure projects, before the expansion can go ahead.
Carnwath said the preparation of the statement “will necessarily involve a review of all the relevant policy issues including the impact of climate change policy.”
“It makes no sense to treat the economic case as settled in 2003,” he said.
Birmingham Friends of the Earth has long argued that massively underestimating of the cost to society of emitting carbon has a huge impact on the economic case for the runway extension and this has now been confirmed on a national level.
This comes as both Birmingham and Solihull councils have apparently offered to fund plans to move the A45 to enable the proposed runway extension at BIA to go ahead – amazingly to the tune of £32 million!!!!!
Joe Peacock from Birmingham Friends of the Earth stated “With today’s ruling it would be madness for the council to be using taxpayers’ money to subsidise the airport’s expansion plans.”
“It is now clear that, as well as being incredibly damaging environmentally, expanding aviation does not make economic sense and the airport should not be coming cap-in-hand to the council to help out.”
“In such difficult economic times money should be invested in supporting local low-carbon business infrastructure that will benefit local people and in turn deliver a Green New Deal for the West Midlands.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
The full text of the ruling is here:
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2010/626.html
Birmingham Friends of the Earth campaigns on many environmental issues, including the promotion of sustainable transport.
For more information contact:
Joe Peacock (Birmingham Friends of the Earth)
0121 632 6909
joe@birminghamfoe.org.uk
