Decision over Heathrow expansion ‘out of our hands’, RBWM says

Royal Borough councillors have reaffirmed their opposition to Heathrow’s third runway expansion – but acknowledged the matter is ‘out of our hands’.

The authority has long fought against the airport’s expansion and supported a legal challenge against a previous version of the plans in 2020. The then-Conservative administration set aside £150,000 for the challenge at the time.

But with the Labour Government keen for expansion to go ahead and new proposals on the table, the cash-strapped council has shifted focus to minimising the negative impacts of the project, rather than trying to stop it outright.

At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, councillors heard the Royal Borough continues to oppose a third runway ‘in principle’.

Councillor Mark Wilson (Eton and Castle), the cabinet member for corporate services, told the meeting: “Given the decision is out of our hands we do need a clear policy so that members and officers understand the official position and can communicate on that basis when in discussion with third parties.

“Along with neighbouring boroughs, we don’t have the spare resource available to mount legal challenges against the expansion individually.”

The Government received Heathrow Airport’s initial proposal for a 3,500m third runway in July this year, with the investment expected to cost £49billion.

A rival bid was also put forward by Arora Group, including a shorter 2,800m third runway.

The Royal Borough is now working with the Heathrow strategic planning group to reduce the negative impacts of the expansion.

The council has three key priorities around the Heathrow expansion: controlling night flights, getting local environmental benefits, and a ‘fair’ economic deal locally.

Councillors also called for restrictions to be put in place for flights between 10.30pm and 6.30am to ensure residents ‘get a good night’s sleep’.

Cllr Wilson said: “We’re looking for tangible local environmental benefits, effectively a cleaner, greener airport.

“We’ve seen very limited economic benefits locally to date from previous work to Heathrow.

Cllr Wilson asked the airport to ‘put people ahead of profits’.

However, the council does recognise there are overall benefits to having an international airport nearby which ‘drives economic growth’.

Cllr Mark Howard (Lib Dem, Bisham and Cookham) said everything to do with the scheme needed to be subject to independent enforcement and an ombudsman.

Cllr Howard said: “I think the big issue that overlapped for all of these issues is trust.

“There have been so many broken promises of things which were supposed to happen, don’t happen, half happen.

“We just don’t believe promises get delivered.”

“This is hundreds-of-millions if not tens-of-billions even possibly hundreds-of-billions of pounds of investment that are coming forward. The airport will be changed massively.”

After the meeting, a Heathrow Airport spokesperson argued local polling showed ‘support for the expansion outweighs opposition’ in the borough.

The spokesperson said: “We will continue to work with the whole community as we progress on this nationally important project.

“Our expansion proposal has already been shaped by years of engagement in the local area, and we have a clear plan to deliver noise respite, meet strict environmental targets and create thousands of local opportunities for lifelong careers.

“We will listen to and work with our neighbours to address their priorities through planning, construction and beyond.”