Agenda item

ACTIONS FOLLOWING DECISION ON THIRD RUNWAY

To consider the Part I report that went to the special meeting of the Cabinet Prioritisation Sub Committee on Thursday, 13th October.

Minutes:

The Leader informed Members that an urgent meeting of the Cabinet Prioritisation Sub Committee was held on October 13th to discuss the Council’s position in the event that the Government announced a preference for a third runway to be built at Heathrow Airport. He explained that, following lengthy debate and discussions, the Sub Committee had approved a budget of up to £50,000 on a Judicial Review of the decision.

 

The Leader reminded Members that the Royal Borough had a long-standing opposition to the possibility of Heathrow expansion. He explained that since 2008 there had been two manifesto pledges to oppose expansion and that at the last local election all 57 Councillors, irrespective of their political party, were elected to the Council after making the same pledge.

 

Members were reminded that the Council had instructed Ipsos Mori to conduct a research poll of Royal Borough residents in 2015 to gauge views on proposed airport expansion in the south east. The interviews had been weighted to survey residents from each council ward and of all different age categories, among other criteria. The survey results showed a net opposition of 4 per cent for construction of a north-west runway at Heathrow Airport, compared to a net 50 per cent approval rating for Gatwick expansion. Following the most recent General Election and the EU Referendum it was decided to re-run the survey, with the results being broadly the same.

 

The Leader said the Cabinet Prioritisation Sub Committee unanimously agreed to delegate to a working group to build a robust Judicial Review case, if required should the Government announce that their preferred option was to expand Heathrow.

 

Subsequent to the Sub Committee meeting, the Government announced that its preferred choice was to build a third runway at Heathrow.

 

The Leader said the Royal Borough was working on its review into a possible Judicial Review alongside the local authorities of Wandsworth, Richmond and Hillingdon, in addition to Greenpeace. He said that immediately after the Government’s announcement was one of three opportunities when a legal challenge could be made; the others being after the publication of the National Policy Statement, and at the time of any planning decision.

 

The Leader said that the Royal Borough was, along with the other local authorities, involved with analysing the evidence the Government used to make its judgement and scrutinising the decision. The Royal Borough would also be exploring the possibility of establishing a Memorandum of Understanding with the other local authorities as to the manner in which any Judicial Review is undertaken. He said that a meeting with the Royal Borough’s partners was planned within the next two weeks, where the strength of the case would be assessed. The Royal Borough would not be making any decisions by itself.

 

The Leader informed Members that the main issues to be assessed ahead of any legal challenge included air quality, noise pollution and possible breaches of human rights. He added that the Department for Transport had queried the economic value provided in the Davies Report.

 

Cllr Beer stated that the Department for Transport report was not published until after the Government’s announcement of its decision on a third runway, and suggested that the Parliamentary Cabinet Sub Committee therefore did not have chance to consider it before making any recommendations.

 

A member of the public asked for clarification if the Council had agreed a budget of £50,000 for the legal challenge. The Leader confirmed this, and stated that the three local authorities that the Royal Borough was working in partnership with had agreed similar budgets. He added that the budget was modest, when the £120,000 recently spent on the legal case relating to the unauthorised traveller encampment in Waltham St Lawrence was taken into consideration. The Leader reiterated that money would only be spent if it was felt that the Council had a strong case.

 

A member of the public asked if any expansion of Heathrow would have any impact on the Royal Borough’s Local Plan. The Leader said that it would not affect the current Local Plan process. He added that, should current timescales be kept to, any construction work at Heathrow Airport would not begin until 2022, by which time The Royal Borough’s Local Plan would have been formally adopted.

 

Cllr Beer suggested that an Aviation Forum working group should be set up to feed information back to the Council, in the same way that problems relating to the construction of Terminal 5 were discussed previously. The Chairman said that this suggestion would be considered by the Council in due course, but added that a working group had already been established amongst the relevant lead members for consideration of the potential Judicial Review content.

 

Members were asked when the public consultation on the proposals would begin. The Leader stated that he believed that would take place at the time of the National Policy Statement being made. The Acting Head of Community Protection & Enforcement Services said that a vote on airport expansion would likely take place in the House of Commons in either winter 2017 or the first quarter of 2018. He said that a planning process would then be commenced, to which the Council would likely comment.

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