High Court case casts further doubt over Heathrow's third runway

The government's plans to expand Heathrow Airport were dealt another blow today following a High Court decision that a hearing should be held to consider the case against the controversial decision to build a third runway.

The Judge ruled that the case needed to be heard in an open court given the significant public interest element and the need for clarification over the Transport Secretary's statement to Parliament in January in which he gave the green light to the third runway.

Leading green groups, along with local councils and residents' groups allege that the statement by the then Transport Secretary, Geoff Hoon, was fundamentally different to the proposals on which the government originally consulted. Greenpeace, WWF-UK, RSPB and CPRE also argue that the decision is incompatible with the government's climate change policy.

The decision follows yesterday's comments by the new Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis, that high speed rail will replace millions of short-haul flights. If Adonis's vision becomes a reality, and the 100,000 short-haul flights that take-off and land at Heathrow each year are transferred to the rail network, the case for a third runway will be further undermined.

Greenpeace Executive Director, John Sauven said:

"Brown was so busy trying to please his friends at BAA that he forgot to check his sums on Heathrow. If he had, he would have found that putting 220,000 more planes in the sky is completely at odds with the urgent need to slash emissions and stop runaway climate change."

"Now, Brown's incoherent decision to expand Heathrow will be scrutinized further by the High Court and he could be forced to ditch this disastrous policy."

"It's blindingly obvious that instead of spending £13 billion on a strip of tarmac that nobody wants or needs, we should be investing in greener forms of transport such as more efficient rail services."

David Norman, Director of Campaigns at WWF-UK said:

"We are delighted that we will now have the opportunity to legally challenge the government's flawed thinking in giving the third runway the go ahead. Allowing expansion at Heathrow runs completely counter to the government's efforts to position itself as a leader in the fight against climate change. It will also make it nigh on impossible for the UK to meet its carbon budget without seriously restricting other sections of the economy."

RSPB's Director of Conservation, Dr Mark Avery said:

"To build capacity for more flights when we need to cut carbon emissions drastically makes no sense.

"We can already see the first harmful impacts of climate change on UK wildlife, including catastrophic population declines in seabirds in parts of the North Sea.

"The decision to press ahead with a third runway against such a backdrop is deeply flawed and we do not believe it will stand up to the scrutiny of the court."

Neil Sinden, Policy and Campaigns Director at the Campaign to Protect Rural England said:

"The High Court has recognised that our legal case has merits. This is an important step in overturning the government's democratically dubious decision to bulldoze a third runway through a village and the surrounding countryside. It is also the first nail in the coffin for the 2003 Air Transport White Paper on which the government's outdated expansion plans are based."

Geoff Hoon resignation - Greenpeace response

Commenting on Geoff Hoon's resignation, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said:

"Geoff Hoon's resignation is an ideal opportunity for Labour to ditch its disastrous Heathrow policy and make a clean break from the past. In recent years the fortunes of the third runway have become a metaphor for the Labour Party itself - increasingly unpopular, with most people now wondering what on earth it's for. In one single step Labour could signal that it takes the voting public seriously and is committed to stopping climate change, and it wouldn't cost a penny. In fact as the aviation industry continues to decline a new £13bn runway would be economic folly."

(DFT) Government to help motorists and industry get on the low carbon road

Business Secretary Peter Mandelson and Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon today launched the Government's vision to promote ultra low carbon transport over the next five years.

Central to the strategy is an initiative to help put electric cars into the reach of ordinary motorists by providing help worth £2000 - £5000 towards buying the first electric and plug in hybrid cars when they hit the showrooms - which we expect from 2011 onwards.

The Government has recently committed to placing low carbon transport at the centre of its vision for the UK economy. Today's announcement will promote infrastructure and support technology development and encourage manufacture in the UK, whilst incentivising consumers.

This funding is included in a £250 million scheme to deliver a green motoring transformation, part of the wider Government support to help consumers and businesses make the transition to low carbon.

Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said;

"Cutting road transport CO2 emissions is a key element to tackling climate change. Less than 0.1% of the UK's 26 million cars are electric, so there is a huge untapped potential to reduce emissions.

"The scale of incentives we're announcing today will mean that an electric car is a real option for motorists as well as helping to make the UK a world leader in low carbon transport."

The strategy also includes plans to provide £20 million for charging points and related infrastructure to help develop a network of 'electric car cities' throughout the UK and an expansion of an electric and ultra-low carbon car demonstration project on the UK's roads. This project will mean over 200 motorists throughout the country will have the opportunity to drive a cutting-edge car and feedback the information needed to make greener motoring an everyday reality.

Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said;

"Britain has taken a world lead in setting ambitious targets for carbon reduction. Low carbon vehicles will play a key role in cutting emissions. Government must act now to ensure that the business benefits of this ambition are realised here in the UK. We want the British motor industry to be a leader in the low carbon future, and Government must direct and support this, through what I call new industrial activism."

The Government has already committed around £400 million of support to encourage development and uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles. This is in addition to a £2.3bn package of support for the automotive sector in the downturn that has been specifically designed to support the development of green technologies to provide solutions for carbon reduction and a world leading low carbon automotive industry.

Speaking today, Richard Parry-Jones, Chairman of the industry led New Automotive Innovation and Growth Team (NAIGT) welcomed the announcement:

"The auto sector in the UK has transformed itself into a world-class industry, with superb design and engineering skills, very high productivity, product reliability that rivals the best in the world, and flexible, constructive labour relations. Today's announcement represents a major step towards achieving the NAIGT's ambition of ensuring that the industry in the UK can play a decisive global role in developing and manufacturing exciting, low carbon vehicles for the future."

(DFT) Passengers set for faster more convenient rail services

A new train service enabling thousands of Kent commuters to leave their cars behind and travel to London on high speed trains will lead to faster, more convenient journeys for rail passengers and boost the local economy, Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said today.

Mr Hoon was visiting the region today to discuss the potential of bringing Crossrail services to the Thames Gateway area. The Government is working closely with councils and local stakeholders to safeguard a route there.

Whilst there, he also viewed plans for two new domestic rail platforms at Ebbsfleet station and an extended 9,000 space park-and-ride facility - both set to open in December 2009 - which will help slash journey times for rail passengers.
Inspecting the progress of work at the station, Geoff Hoon said:

"Ebbsfleet has successfully served high speed international rail services for some time now and I am delighted passengers on domestic services travelling into London and to the South East coast are about to benefit from faster journey times.

"The Government has committed £51 million to develop transport in the region and this is just one of many schemes we are supporting, including a number of local road improvement schemes and the 'Fastrack' bus service - which I also viewed during my visit to the area - which now carries more than 1.5million passengers every year."

The Secretary of State also met with local councillors and was accompanied on his tour of Ebbsfleet and the Fastrack bus service by Dartford MP Howard Stoate.